


Korrasami Month 2018

by Gemini_Sweet



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Korrasami - Fandom
Genre: F/F, Foreplay, Grief/Mourning, Korrasami Month 2018, Making Out, Marriage Proposal, Scars, Sex, Sexual Coercion, Trauma, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-09-06 17:27:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 30,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16837126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gemini_Sweet/pseuds/Gemini_Sweet
Summary: Korrasami Month 2018 prompts from Tumblr





	1. Grief

As usual, it broadsided her.

She would be perfectly fine, doing mundane things – reaching for a tool, filing a portfolio, choosing a jacket, brushing her hair, driving, walking – when her eyes would water and her throat would burn and her chest would constrict under the crushing weight of her reality.

She was alone.

Her mother was dead. Her father was dead. She had no siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, or living grandparents. She had friends, bless them, but they barely knew the difference between a flat-head and a cross-head. Her inheritance, her company, the thousands of people and their families who depended upon her company – she was the only person qualified to take on the Sato mantle.

It wasn’t that Asami didn’t appreciate how blessed she was to have such problems. After all, there were people living in the _sewers_ underneath the city, eating gruel scrounged from _dumpsters_. Who cared if she lost millions of dollars worth of property and spent the rest of her life fixing Cabbage Cars? (As often as they broke down, she’d never be out of a job). She just hadn’t been prepared to take on these responsibilities until she was considerably older. Like, _decades_ older.

The grief hadn’t been any easier when her father was still alive. In retrospect, she hadn’t had a chance to really grieve. She’d had a company to save, and then a world to save, and then an avatar to save. The emotion she remembered feeling most was fear. She’d been so afraid of losing her company, losing her friends, losing her life … losing Korra.

Asami shook her head as she turned her thoughts away from that track. She squinted, road grit sprinkling her face as she loosened the last bolt on the dust shield housing the transmission. She could hear Korra softly singing along with the radio, the heel of a leather boot tapping a cabinet door in time with the beat.

A smile pulled her lips to one side as she imagined Korra sitting on the countertop and juggling tools or water or dirty oil (the first metal-bending avatar had just discovered that there was enough metal and dirt dispersed throughout used motor oil to bend the fluid). During breakfast, Asami had asked for help with dropping a transmission. Korra had furrowed her eyebrows and asked, “ _Drop_ it?”

After a quick lesson in automotive idioms and an abridged version of the process, Korra had insisted that Asami swear to never “drop” a transmission without her. Asami was always careful, and used the belts and pulley systems built into the custom Sato garage. However, being underneath a hunk of metal twice her own weight _by herself_ while _un_ -bolting it was taking an unnecessary risk according to the bender.

Often, Asami would take such “concern” as an insulting assessment of her abilities. That wasn’t so in Korra’s case. She knew it wasn’t condescension (after all, the transmission did weigh nearly 100 kilograms). She and Korra had always looked out for each other, even when they’d both been romantically interested in Mako. She’d never forget watching Korra and Mako in the reflection of the RCPD airship’s window, witnessing Korra direct him to comfort her.

After several years of contemplation, Asami decided that was the moment the seed of love for Korra was planted in her harrowed heart. The Southern Water Tribe woman always knew when the grief had careened into her, even when she managed to keep her tears at bay. If they weren’t alone, Korra would take over the conversation, stepping just a little in front of Asami in a protective stance until the CEO had recovered enough to put a slender hand on a muscled shoulder and rejoin the discussion.

If they were alone, Korra would inch closer until their shoulders were touching, or hug her, or hold her hand – and, then, wait. Wait for Asami to share the memory, or to cry on her shoulder, or to rail at her stupid father’s hateful actions, or to rest her heavy head on Korra’s strong shoulder and heave a tired a sigh.

When Korra returned from the Earth Kingdom with a new look and that same haunted expression she’d had when she’d left three years prior, Asami had done the same for her. After rescuing then-Prince Wu and laughing at his ridiculousness over a kitchen raid of fruits, vegetable pies and Pema’s famous sticky buns, they’d ended up at the gazebo. When Tenzin had left them alone for the night, they’d sat together on the wooden floor, shoulder-to-shoulder, and Asami had waited.

Korra told her about the vision of her wounded self, about still not being able to meditate into the Spirit World despite being able to enter the Avatar state. The tears flowed freely down her dark cheeks, blues eyes glistening as she softly voiced her deepest fears. Asami had held her hand, and when Korra had grown tired, she’d rested her head on Asami’s shoulder and sighed.

She’d almost told Korra she loved her right then and there. She was glad they’d had enough time to ( _finally_ ) say those words to each other. She was glad they’d survived to spend a weekend morning enjoying each other’s company with nothing more pressing on their agendas than to rebuild a transmission and join their “family” for dinner on Air Temple Island.

The tune on the radio changed, and the first few notes transported Asami to a long-forgotten memory of her father teaching her how to dance in that very garage. She was young, less than ten years old. Her bare feet were on top of his leather workboots, her thin hands swallowed by his broad palms and thick fingers. She could feel his calloused hands, smell the grease, picture the brownish-black stains on his sleeve, hear his laughter mingle with hers as they step-two-three-four’d to the music.

Then grief hit her.

Asami’s eyes watered, blurring her vision as her hands shook, knocking her rachet against metal. Before the first sob could escape her lips, she felt firm hands grip her bent knees. She lowered her tools and allowed herself to be pulled from underneath the undercarriage, allowed herself to be raised up into warm arms, allowed herself to release her latest wave of tears into Korra’s waiting shoulder.

She wept. She wept for the loss. The years, the possibilities, the innocence. Gone. All of it, gone. In a blinding instant, in years of malignant choices, in pity, in shame.

With Korra, she felt no shame or pity. Only understanding. And trust. And love. Korra held her and kissed her hair, gently massaging the tense muscles in the back of her neck. When the sobs quieted to stuffy sniffles, a different song was on the radio. Asami couldn’t tell how many songs had played between her trigger and that one. She pulled away and looked up into soft, clear blue eyes.

“Hey,” Korra said, tucking a lock of hair behind Asami’s ear.

“H-hey,” Asami warbled in reply. She cleared her throat as Korra smiled at her, one side of those slightly chapped lips pulling higher than the other. On impulse, Asami pressed her own lips against them, memorizing for the millionth time how each millimeter of Korra’s skin felt against her own. _Just in case_ , she thought, tears threatening to fall again. _Just in case_ ….

Korra pulled away, holding Asami at bay with both hands cupped around her face and thumbs caressing her cheeks. “I’m not going anywhere,” Korra murmured.

“You can’t promise that,” Asami whispered.

“Of course, I can.” Korra grinned, eyes sparkling in the late morning light filling the open bay doors of the garage. “I’m the Avatar. Even death can’t keep me from you.”

Asami chuckled in spite of herself at the morbid joke. Her smile broadened and she hummed as Korra planted a warm kiss in the middle of her forehead. “I miss him.”

“I know.” Korra pulled back and they searched each other’s eyes for a few moments.

Asami finally broke the tender impasse with a resigned sigh and a kiss on each brown cheek. “Come on. I want to finish this up before we join everyone for dinner.”

“We’re not stopping for lunch?” Korra pouted and placed a hand over her blue stomach as it grumbled in complaint.

“Bored already?” Asami rolled her eyes as she repositioned herself on the dolly. “You can go do something else, you know. I’ve done this – by myself – many times.”

She squeaked a little in surprise as the dolly reversed direction and suddenly stopped when her face was aligned with a very smug Avatar’s hip. Korra reached down and gently tapped her nose with a blunt-nailed finger. “No way, Sato. You’re stuck with me. For better or worse.”

Asami raised an eyebrow. “Is that a proposal?”

Blue eyes flew wide open as brown cheeks blushed. “I-I? Wh-wh? Uh, y-you? Uhhh?”

“Easy, Avatar. No pressure.” Asami laughed and reached up to place a gloved fingertip on the end of the flustered woman’s nose. “I’ll wait.”


	2. Proposal

_She knows._

“I-I? Wh-wh?”

_I can’t believe it! How does she know? I didn’t tell anyone!_

“Uh, y-you?”

_I worked so hard to keep this a secret! Does she have any idea how hard it is to keep a secret from Ikki?!! It’s like she has a seventh sense for secrets…. Wait … that’s not her ‘I know what you’re hiding’ face. Is that her teasing face? That’s Asami’s teasing face. She doesn’t know! Or, does she???_

“Uhhh.”

_Ughhh!!!!_

Korra blinked as a rough suede finger pressed the tip of her nose. Her nostrils flared as the scent of grease and leather filled them.

“Easy, Avatar. No pressure,” Asami chuckled. The morning sunlight highlighted the yellow near her pupils, warming her jade green irises.

_Sooo prettyyy. Wait. Oh. Oh no! No! That’s not what I-!_

“I’ll wait.” Asami removed her finger and winked a gorgeous green eye before planting her feet and pushing herself back under the death trap. The woman insisted on removing the supporting screws on a metal part that was literally as heavy as Korra’s father while she was directly underneath it. Korra shook her head and smiled to herself. As unnecessarily risky as she thought it was, Asami was confident in the skill and tools the engineer had acquired over the years.

That confidence was no false front. Asami Sato was not the kind of person to pretend to know something in order to save face or impress. If she didn’t know, she said so – then studied and trained until the unknown was mastered.

Korra loved that about Asami. It was one of the _many_ things she loved about Asami. And it was one of the many things they had in common. They both saw problems as challenges to be overcome. They both studied and trained relentlessly in order to be better, get stronger. They both used their talents to help others.

They both understood that dangers lurked in the shadows, waiting for the opportunity to strike. And they were determined to be ready, to protect the ones they loved. Despite the pain and loss they’d both suffered, they still held on to the belief that light is still greater than dark. After all, even on a moonless night, the stars still shone.

Once her girlfriend’s beautiful face was hidden and she heard the ratchet smoothly clicking, Korra ran her hand through her hair and quietly sighed to herself. Today was the day. She’d been planning this for weeks, ever since she’d glanced at the calendar in Tenzin’s office when he was droning on one day and realized what date was fast approaching. It was perfect.

She already had the materials to make a betrothal necklace. During her recovery back home, she’d often visited the place where old or sick walrus-turtles went to die. She’d never told anyone she went there. It had been just her and Naga, sitting and watching. Waiting for the inevitable.

When she could earthbend again and there were no living walrus-turtles at the dying place, she’d practiced bending the particularly challenging rock. The rock she couldn’t bend was actually bone and tusk. She’d kept one of those buried tusks, the ivory aged black with red streaks where rust had stained the once-living material hundreds – possibly thousands – of years ago. It had reminded her of Asami – unique, resilient, beautiful.

Once she had a date in mind, she knew she had to make Asami’s betrothal necklace with that petrified ivory. It had traveled the world with her in the months between leaving the South Pole and returning to Air Temple Island, nestled in her pocket with her most cherished letter from Asami. The small piece cut and carved from the tip with careful, precision waterbending seemed to know its purpose. What would normally take a couple of weeks to carve out of such strong but fragile rock only took her a few days, as if it had existed just for Asami.

It was perfect: the date, the betrothal necklace, the surprise. If everything went according to plan, Asami would have no doubt about how much Korra loved her. And how certain she was that Asami was the only person with whom she wanted to spend the rest of this life.

“Korra? I got the front bolts off. You ready?”

_Just a few more hours._ Korra smiled to herself as she stood up and took her stance, feeling the earth in the heavy hunk of metal. “Ready.”

***

Asami had gotten into the habit of eating dinner with the airbenders at least once a week. Korra suspected it was both to keep up with her progress healing in the South and for Pema to make certain Asami had at least one nutritious meal each week. Everyone knew the engineer and CEO had a habit of losing track of time when working. And the spirit vines and the reunification of the Earth Kingdom had given Future Industries plenty of work.

Months into Zhu Li’s presidency and the “two most powerful women in Republic City” were still incredibly busy. Asami was (once again) rebuilding Republic City. Korra was fulfilling her Avatar duties in the United Republic and the Earth Kingdom (which Wu was in the process of restructuring into … something … with elections … and dancing badger-moles), as well as helping the Republic City Police Department keep the triads in check. And both of them were helping the Air Nation mediate spirit-human conflicts.

Korra had flown to the Sato Estate the previous night after yet another confrontation with Jargala, eager to sleep curled up in the comfort of her girlfriend’s arms. Some nights she’d start as the little spoon, some nights as the big spoon – but, every morning, she woke up on her back with a mass of black hair pressed into her left breast. Asami had admitted one morning that she’d wake up in the middle of the night, and hearing Korra’s heartbeat was the only thing that lulled her back to sleep.

Tonight, Asami had driven them to the docks, parking her convertible Satomobile in her dockside garage. Not the same garage the young genius had peeled out of on their first night patrolling the city as Team Avatar. That garage had been destroyed during Unavaatu’s attack during Harmonic Convergence. Another garage had been built in its place – then destroyed by Kuvira’s giant mecha.

The ferry was still at the Air Temple dock when they’d arrived. Korra looked over at the statue of Aang standing guard over Yue Bay with his staff.

“I haven’t been to Aang’s memorial since I was a kid,” Asami said, leaning on the fence with her folded forearms.

“Why not?”

“Just never had time.” Asami shrugged.

“Let’s make time.” Korra smirked, putting one hand across Asami’s lower back and the other on her upper arm.

“Sure.” Asami smiled.

The taller woman draped an arm around Korra’s shoulders. The Avatar vaulted over the safety barrier with a bit of airbending and landed them squarely on a freshly bent ice floe. She went as fast as she dared, grinning as Asami laughed in her ear, the wind whipping their hair as they sped across the bay.

Asami was still laughing when they landed, pulling Korra into a hug. “You steer ice much better than cars,” she teased before kissing Korra’s cheek.

“Again,” Korra huffed as they separated, putting one hand on her hip. “I’ve had less than a year of practice driving cars. I bet in 20 years I’ll be better than you.”

“I’ll take that bet.” Asami smirked and flipped her hair (Still perfect. How does she _do_ that?) over her shoulder as she turned toward the main entrance. “In 20 years, I’ll still have a decade more experience than you.”

Korra rolled her eyes before catching up to the taller woman, their hands automatically finding each other’s. She glanced in the direction of the spirit portal and smiled as her heart beat faster. _Soon_.

The pair wound their way through the memorial museum, reading plaques and laughing at old pictures of the previous team avatar. In honor of Korra bringing back the Air Nation, a large room chronicled the Southern Water Tribe Avatar’s major milestones. As usual, she blushed as Asami cooed over the picture of a four-year-old Korra with her round belly exposed, suspending a small rock in mid-air as flames flickered from the end of her fist.

Korra glanced at the spirit portal through one of the windows. “I bet the spirit portal looks amazing from the top.”

“Mm.” Asami turned to face the portal as well. “We’d better head to the temple.”

“Aww, come on.” Korra pouted, angling her body just enough to accentuate the difference between her flat stomach and her healthy bust. Asami had hair; Korra had muscle – and she knew how to use it.

Sure enough, Asami’s cheeks flushed ever-so-slightly as she rolled her eyes and sighed. “Fine. Just for a few minutes.”

Korra grinned and grabbed her girlfiend’s hand. She hurried them outside, then summoned a small whirlwind to lift them up to the top of stone statue’s bald head. They sat, side-by-side, taking in the city’s skyline and the spirit ever-shifting light of the spirit portal.

“I could use another vacation,” Asami murmured.

Korra chuckled and slipped a hand into her pocket. Her skin tingled as she waited for the moment. _Any minute now…._

Asami gasped and squeezed Korra’s hand as the spirit portal shifted from its usual shades of yellow to every shade of the light spectrum. Each rainbow color shone like jeweled threads quivering from earth to endless sky. The display dazzled the former downtown for nearly a minute before it quivered back to unified light.

“H-how…?” Asami breathed, eyes still transfixed on the column of light.

“It’s the spring equinox,” Korra explained. “The same thing happens at the polar spirit portals during the spring and autumn equinoxes. It’s the moment when day and night are perfectly balanced and all of the colors of light can be seen. Well, if it isn’t near noon on a bright, sunny day, that is.”

“Thank you for showing me.” Asami turned her head to face Korra. “You never cease to amaze me.”

“You know me.” Korra shrugged. “Full of surprises.”

“Indeed.” Asami kissed her on the cheek.

“I have one more surprise,” Korra murmured, pulling her free hand out of her pocket and holding up the betrothal necklace. The braided black and burgundy leather and veins of scarlet in the jet black tusk complimented Asami’s clothing and lipstick perfectly.

“Korra,” Asami whispered. She tentatively extended a slender hand over the accessory, as if she were trying not to startle a small bird or light spirit. The green of her eyes deepened with the threat of unshed tears.

“It’s considered good luck to propose on a full moon; it’s a sign of a prosperous and happy marriage. A full moon during the equinox is really special. It only happens every 20 years or so.” Korra watched Asami’s face as she gingerly fingered the carefully carved cog rising out of the whorls of the ocean. “It signifies success and balance; that the good times will be just as much as the bad times. And, well, considering just how _bad_ our bad times have been….”

“Our good times are going to be even greater,” Asami said. She looked up at Korra with a wide smile, a tear sliding down the side of one cheek. “We’ll make sure of it. What is it made of?”

“Walrus-turtle tusk. It’s petrified.”

“Can you bend it?”

“Nope.” Korra smiled. “One hundred percent unbendable. Avatar guaranteed. So….” Korra cleared her throat. “Asami Sato. Will you be my partner and equal? On and off the battlefield?”

Asami cupped Korra’s cheek and pulled her into a long, soft, earnest kiss. When they both ran out of breath, Asami pulled back and whispered, “Yes. A thousand times, yes.”

Korra gave her a quick peck before holding up the necklace. Asami pulled her hair up out of the way as it was fastened in place. She placed a hand on the new accessory as she glowed in the setting sun.

“I’m never taking it off,” Asami vowed.

“Sounds perfect.”


	3. Desire

Asami pressed her lips into the space behind Korra’s ear. The ice beneath them wobbled for an instant.

“A-sa-mi,” Korra laughed over the rushing wind as they sped toward Air Temple Island in the dark. “I need to focus!”

With a smiling sigh, Asami readjusted her hold around Korra’s shoulder as the Avatar continued to bend with one hand. The fingers of Asami’s other hand continued to trace the sharp patterns of the carved ivory hanging from the braided leather fastened around her neck. She’d hardly put her hand down since Korra put it on her.

_We’re getting married._ Asami’s smile expanded into a grin as they approached the beach just west of the docks. They were late for dinner, the sun having set long ago while they were making out on top of Aang’s statue. Probably not the most respectful of places, but neither she nor Korra cared at that moment.

She’d assumed, incorrectly, that Korra wasn’t ready for marriage. Despite the bender’s initial bravado about claiming their relationship in public, in private Korra could be … skittish … at times. Asami had initiated their first kiss. It had taken Korra weeks to say “I love you.” After their first couple of “disagreements”, Korra had sulked like a kicked puppy.

Most of Korra’s insecurities came from her battle fatigue. Visions and nightmares continued to plague her. Despite the physical proof of her phenomenal abilities shining for all to see in the middle of Republic City, some days Korra couldn’t shake the shame of her failures – real or perceived.

Those days were fewer than they used to be, but Asami wasn’t a fool. She knew her betrothed would continue to face that inner darkness for the rest of their lives.

_Betrothed_. Their journey came to an end upon a rushing wave followed by a flourish of airbending that landed them softly upon the sand without getting grit in their eyes. Instead of letting go, she put her other arm on Korra’s opposite shoulder, fingers playing in the fine hair at the nape of the Southerner’s neck. “I love you.”

Blue eyes sparkled up at her, the full moon bright in the early night sky. “I love you, too.”

Asami leaned in for another kiss, humming as firm fingers pressed into her hips. She was surprised to feel Korra’s tongue trace her bottom lip so soon, but eagerly accepted. They slowly tested and traced, then teeth nipped and tugged. Asami turned her head to get some air, then immediately attached her lips to Korra’s neck.

Her only warning was a low, moaning growl before she was forced back into the wall of the cliff. She continued to kiss and nip the warm, salty flesh twitching beneath her lips. Her focus was tested by thumbs caressing circles against her hip bones, occasionally stroking above the waistband of her shirt.

She let her hands trail from the back of Korra’s neck, to her shoulders, to her collarbones, then down to-

“Mmph.” Korra pulled back, grabbing Asami’s wrists before they could go any further. Asami studied her face in the moonlight, lipstick stains around her mouth and jaw, cheeks flushed, eyes closed, chest heaving. Those blue eyes opened, dark and smoldering beneath thick brown lashes, a sad smirk pulling swollen lips to one side.

Asami swallowed the whimper in her throat.

“I-I.” Korra licked her lips. “As much as I’m enjoying this, the White Lotus might-”

“Right,” Asami breathed. “Right.”

They separated fully and began tidying themselves. Korra used her waterbending to clean off the errant smudges of lipstick on both of their faces and necks. After Tonraq’s initial reaction to them _dating_ and Kya’s pep talk, they’d decided it would be best to follow more traditional dating practices.

It hadn’t been easy. As Korra had pointed out several times, they couldn’t get pregnant, so no one would know. Even so, they’d both managed to keep their hands above the waist and keep any amorous activities out of the bedroom. The bed was for sleeping and only sleeping. A rule which, sadly, hadn’t been all that difficult to honor considering their demanding responsibilities. Even when they’d allowed themselves to unbutton tops and expose breasts something always came up to interrupt them before they’d spent more than a couple of minutes enjoying bare skin.

An unexpected side-effect of such restraint was how much more significant every touch and kiss felt. Every time their lips brushed across one another’s, a spark ignited in her neck and electricity jolted down her spin. Her skin felt warm, and her heart raced, and her senses were so much sharper. She could see every fleck of green within the darker blue of Korra’s irises. She could smell Korra’s natural, musky scent under the Temple soap. She could taste the variation of salt on Korra’s skin from day to day.

It was torture. Sweet, excruciating torture. And she wasn’t sure she could stand another night.

***

There were two surprises for Asami when they finally arrived at dinner: Korra’s parents. As soon as they’d entered the dining room and the Chief and his wife had spotted the betrothal necklace, Asami had been smothered in hugs and kisses as a fresh wave of tears.

It was difficult for Asami to focus during dinner. Not only had Korra timed the proposal, she’d also invited everyone with whom Asami could’ve wanted to share the news. Bolin, Mako, Kya, Lin, Opal were all there to congratulate the happy couple – even Zhu Li (though her husband, was less of a welcome addition to the party). She was so happy to share this moment with the people whom she’d trusted with her life time and again.

At the same time, she craved contact with Korra. She was constantly touching a brown hand, a muscled shoulder, a blue knee. She was split between two desires: to be with her family and to be wrapped up in Korra’s arms, kissing each other until they were dizzy.

Kissing was all they could do in the women’s dorm. She supposed they could do more (she’d certainly heard some of the acolytes doing more), but she wasn’t keen on an audience.

She fingered the carved ivory at her throat once again. That morning she was content to wait as long as it took for Korra to be comfortable enough to take the next “official” step. “No pressure,” she’d told her love. Now, with the often-dreamt-of symbol of commitment on her throat, her hands were itching to pick up where they’d left off and go further than they’d ever traveled.

“Asami?”

“Hm?” She looked over to see lovely blue eyes framed with the crinkles of laugh lines.

“Have you heard anything?” Korra chuckled.

“No, sorry,” Asami smiled apologetically to the table of expectant faces. “I guess I’m a little tired.”

“Of course,” Senna said, standing up. “It’s been an exciting day.”

Senna and Tonraq hugged and kissed them both. Tenzin hugged them. Pema hugged them, then shushed and shooed Korra and Asami out when they attempted to help clean up, a knowing smile on her lips as she ordered them to bed. More hugs and congratulations followed, including one spine-cracking hug from a teary Bolin.

The two tired women finally made it out of the family dining room. They strolled to the women’s dorms, talking softly about the day, recounting some of the funnier moments. Out of habit, they squeezed fingers and parted so that Asami could get her spare nightclothes out of her neighboring room.

She’d taken a neighboring room when Korra returned from the Northern Air Temple. Within a week she’d turned the room into an oversized closet, pushing their beds together and sleeping with the injured woman to provide comfort and assistance as soon as she was needed.

It took her seconds to gather fresh underwear, nightgown, socks and her toiletry bag. She slid open her door just as Korra stepped out of hers. Asami raised an eyebrow when she noticed Korra was empty handed.

“I-I, uh,” Korra sighed as she rubbed the back of her neck. “I think I’ll wait. Until you’re out….”

Asami’s heart unexpectedly sank a little. She wasn’t expecting them to do anything other than bathe in the communal bath, but to have the fantasy dashed before it started was definitely disappointing. “Oh. Okay.” She took a deep breath and asked, “Should we sleep in different beds?”

Korra’s eyes flew open and she waved both hands. “No!” She whispered loudly. “No! I-” She huffed and walked closer to Asami. “Do you?” She swallowed loud enough for Asami to hear. “Do you still want to wait until after the ceremony? Or…?”

“I-I.” Asami cleared her throat. “I don’t want to, b-”

Her lips were suddenly engulfed by Korra’s – warm, searching, hungry. She nearly dropped her items as she wrapped her arms around Korra’s neck. A pair of hands sought the small of her back, grabbed her rear, squeezed the backs of her thighs and lifted her in the air.

Kiss broken, Asami looked down at Korra.

“Good. I’m done with trying to please everyone else,” Korra said, her voice low and commanding. A shiver ran up Asami’s spine. “We’ve never been traditional. I know I’ve broken every Avatar tradition that’s ever existed since I was four. The only person I’m interested in pleasing? Is you.”

Asami wrapped her legs tighter around Korra’s hips as another shiver triggered a deep ache within her groin. “Only if I get to please you, too.”

Korra smirked as she began walking them down the corridor to the communal bath with ridiculous ease. “I’d love that, but I doubt you’ll have the energy once I’m done with you.”

As they approached the door to the bath, they heard sounds coming from the other side of the door. Asami lifted her head as she realized what kind of sounds they were. Both Asami and Korra’s mouths dropped open in shock when Lin’s deep voice moaned, “Ohhhh, Kya.”

“Whelp,” Asami whispered, unwrapping her legs and standing on her own two feet. “I think I’ll bathe in the morning.”

“No kidding,” Korra whispered, walking behind Asami back to her room. “Talk about a mood killer.”

“I know! That’s like almost walking in on your parents.”

“Ugh.” Korra shuddered. “Don’t remind me.”

Asami covered her mouth and giggled. “You didn’t.”

Korra shrugged. “On the bright side, I stopped earthbending through the walls.”


	4. Long Distance

Spooning in Korra’s bed, eyelids heavy with sleep, they’d made plans for a more private celebration of their engagement. After spending the obligatory time with family and friends, they’d have a nice, quiet dinner at the Sato Estate followed by a long, sleepless night in the secluded wing that included Asami’s bedroom. Korra hadn’t slept that well in weeks.

The next morning, Asami received an emergency phone call during breakfast. Her furrowed eyebrows, glinting eyes and thin-pressed lips made Korra and Mako shrink back from the table. Fortunately, Varrick was the target of the fighter’s lethal ire. Apparently, he’d filmed their makeout session on top of the memorial and “leaked” their engagement to the press. Zhu Li had called to personally apologize.

Tenzin turned red. Her father laughed so hard he cried. Her mother and Kya had exchanged knowing glances. Korra couldn’t really look Kya in the face most of the day. She was glad Lin had left before they’d gotten up.

Asami had to head straight back to the estate to prepare for the work week. Being chief, Korra’s father had to return to the Southern Water Tribe, so after dinner and Korra had personally escorted her parents back home through the Spirit World. By the time she’d landed on Asami’s balcony, her betrothed was fast asleep.

It turned out to be a busy work week for Asami, but the Avatar’s services weren’t really needed. So, Korra trained and planned. A quick dinner, a hot bath, a massage with scented oils and a little heatbending. It was the perfect way to ease into their first time.

That first night Korra’d fallen asleep in the corner of Asami’s office, waiting for the CEO to finish “just one last thing”. The next attempt Asami had fallen asleep during the massage. The next attempt and Korra had found the exhausted woman passed out at her desk.

The following week, spirit vines had unexpectedly grown in one of the construction sites. It took both of them three days to understand what triggered the growth. Korra had been so impressed with Asami’s insights from her years of experience building the city’s infrastructure. It was certainly a turn-on. Unfortunately, her dreams of how she’d make love to the genius remained just that – dreams. They’d both passed out before Korra could even get under the sheets.

Needless to say, Korra’s mood had been increasingly sour the past few days. When she’d arrived that day with lunch for Asami, her mouth had been pursed and shoulders bowed. Asami, wonderful woman she is, had massaged her neck and back right between the shoulder blades. A few neck kisses, a few murmured teases, and Asami had one hand up her tunic and another tickling her bellybutton as it crept toward her the waistband of her pants.

A knock on the locked door curled smoke through Korra’s nose.

“We’ll pick up where we left off tonight,” Asami quietly assured.

“Promise?” Korra muttered, retucking and buttoning her top.

“Promise.”

Asami had opened her door to find Kai with a serious expression and a folded piece of parchment in his hand.

“Is Korra here?”

***

“Fire be _damned_!”

Asami slammed her files on the desk, fuming at the note impaled on the message spike by her secretary. Tears burned her eyes as she sucked cool air through her lips, attempting to ease the ache within her leather-clad throat.

_Avatar called. Unavailable after 3 RC._

Two days. Two motherfucking days she’d missed Korra’s call. Bandits in the Earth Kingdom had resurged with a vengeance since Kuvira’s defeat. Their unwelcome presence was only complicated by two competing vigilante groups claiming to be true followers of “The Great Uniter”, and Wu’s decision to ease the kingdom into a new electoral government.

The Fire Nation, in Fire Lord Izumi’s typical fashion, chose to stay out of the conflict. She authorized shipments of food and medical supplies for the Air Nation to distribute, but would offer no military intervention. Suyin Beifong and Zaofu, fortunately, had learned their lesson and were intimately involved in the process of the future of their most immediate neighbor.

And, because of the unrest, spirits were turning dark and attacking humans indiscriminately. The world needed its Avatar.

With a shaky sigh, Asami sank into her chair. It had been three weeks since Kai showed up with that damned letter. Three weeks since Korra had rushed out of that door with a quick kiss and a determined frown.

That morning, Korra’s face – eyebrows furrowed, one eye bruised, cheeks and bottom lip bleeding – was one of the three pictures on the front page of the Ba Sing Se Herald. The other two were action shots of her betrothed spirit-bending monstrous dark spirits.

She’d wanted to go with Korra, but the spirit vines were growing and shrinking unexpectedly across the city. They’d figured it was related to whatever was happening in the Earth Kingdom. Mako stayed in the city to assist the RCPD, while Bolin went with Korra.

They’d talked via radio and phone as often as Korra could, but her location and the time she could stay close to either amenity was inconsistent. Asami took some comfort in recognizing that the number was a Ba Sing Se exchange – but, not much.

Asami rolled her shoulders back and took a deep breath. “She’s alive. She’s been through worse. Stop worrying, Sato. Suck it up.”

***

Korra hung her head and sighed, hands on the desk, one finger toying the cord to the ornate desk phone. The heavy ache in her chest was all too familiar. It almost seemed fitting that she’d found the loneliness where she thought she’d left it – in the Earth Kingdom.

“Korra?”

The Avatar glanced over her shoulder as a broad hand squeezed it. “Thanks, Bo.” She took a deep breath and set her jaw before turning and marching toward the door. “Let’s do this.”

***

Asami’s head jerked up from the desk. The smell of old books told her she was home, in what had once been her father’s study (that she now claimed as her own). Her hand felt numb and sticky with drool. She wrinkled her nose at the damp, cooling sensation on her cheek. Clearing her throat, she opened her desk drawer for a handkerchief with one hand as she reached for the ringing phone with the other.

“Sato speaking.”

“ _Asami._ ”

“Korra?” Asami grasped the earpiece with both hands, handkerchief forgotten. “It’s so good to hear your voice!”

“ _Yours, too_ ,” Korra chuckled. “ _Am I coming through clear_?”

“The line’s a little faint, but I can hear you just fine.”

“ _Good. I figured if I didn’t catch you at your office office you’d been in your home office._ ”

“Guilty.” Asami sighed. “I miss you.”

“ _I miss you, too. So much._ ”

“Where are you calling from?”

“ _I think it’s the same house we stayed at when we came to the palace, but I’m not sure_.”

“Oh, good! From the news headlines it sounded much worse.”

“ _It is_ ,” Korra sighed. “ _We only came to the palace to meet with Wu and the head of the Dai Li. The spirits are coming from the Swamp. Toph is in Zaofu._ ”

“So they were harvesting vines again.”

“ _Looks like it._ _With the Dai Li’s info, we think we’ve found where the vines are stored. Oh, before I forget, Bolin said to give his grandma a big kiss. And he promises to visit the old neighborhood to see if they can come back._ ”

“I will.” Asami smiled as she leaned on one elbow, her other arm folded on the desk. “Do they want to go back?”

“ _They definitely want something of their own. They’re Earth Kingdom, ya know? Self-sufficient, independent-_ ”

“I know, I know. I just don’t want them to think I’m kicking them out.”

“ _If I catch Tu checking out your ass one more time, I’m kicking his across the mountains._”

“Kor-ra,” Asami chuckled. “You can’t throw everyone who checks me out across the mountains. Half the city would disappear.”

“ _Half the city, huh?_ ” Korra chuckled. “ _Cocky, aren’t we?_ ”

“Not cocky. Confident.”

“ _Mmm. I like confident._ ”

“Is that so?”

“ _It’s very sexy._”

Asami bit her bottom lip. “Korra? Where are you?”

“ _In one of those fancy guest houses._ ”

“No,” Asami giggled. “I mean, what _room_ are you in? With the phone?”

“ _Oh. Ohhhhh! Hold on, one sec._ ”

Asami listened as rustling was followed by a soft grunt then a softer thud.

“ _There,_ ” Korra huffed, sounding like she’d flopped backward on a bed. “ _Bedroom door is secured. You have my undivided attention, my love_.”

“What did you use?”

“ _Around here, a heavy wooden desk is more secure than a metal lock._ ”

“Bolin can’t metalbend.”

“ _I’m taking noooo chances._ _So, Miss Sato. Where were we?_ ”

“Give me seven seconds,” Asami said. She set down the earpiece, rushed around the desk, locked the door, and rushed back to her seat. “Okay. _You_ were in your bed. _I_ am sitting at my desk.”

“ _That literally took you seven seconds,_” Korra laughed.

“Korra.”

“ _Sorry! Sorry._ ” Korra took a deep breath and sighed. “ _I really wish I was there. I’ve had so many fantasies about us in that chair._ ”

“Mmmm. Me, too. In the chair, on the desk, against the bookcase.”

“ _Naughty_ ,” Korra breathed. “ _First, we have to get you out of those clothes_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know! I know! I didn't have time to work, sleep, bathe the dog, do laundry, clean the house AND finish their *ahem* conversation by deadline. :(


	5. First Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Changed the rating for this chapter.

“If it isn’t my _favorite_ avatar!”

It took everything in Korra not to roll her eyes as she bowed. King Wu was one of the good guys. He was also annoying, and overly flirtatious, and had a singing voice only a badger-mole could love. Literally.

He’d asked for her help to deal with the dark spirit attacks in the Earth Kingdom. The attacks began about the same time the spirit vines in Republic City started acting weird. She’d used spirit bending to attempt to find a cause. Following those clues, she and Bolin had journeyed into the Foggy Swamp and found recent damage to the vast root system of the Banyan tree.

They’d also met the Foggy Swamp Tribe. After a particularly difficult fight with two dark spirits, it was nice to relax and enjoy some good music and filling food. Wrestling the cat-gator was _really_ fun. She missed Asami terribly, but she was kind of glad it had just been her and Bolin hanging out with the Tribe. She doubted her betrothed would’ve enjoyed eating giant bugs and rolling around in the mud.

Short on time and info, they’d decided to see what the Dai Li could tell them. Though they were far from the force of good her past incarnation had intended them to be, their network of spies did have practical uses. After a much needed bath and some sleep (and another failed attempt to talk to Asami), the duo had been called to the throne room to meet Wu.

“ _And_ my _favorite_ mover star!” Wu stepped lightly down the huge steps of the huge dais under his huge throne and met them in the middle of the room. He spun between them and then draped an arm around their shoulders. “How’s Republic City holding up without me?”

“Surprisingly well.” Korra smirked.

“Except for Grandma Yin,” Bolin said. “She doesn’t want you to step down.”

“Dear Grandma Yin,” Wu said, wiping an actual tear from his eye. “She really knew how to make a king feel appreciated. But, enough about me! How about you, you sly fox-antelope?” He waggled his thick eyebrows up and down as he nudged Korra in the ribs. “No wonder Mako struck out.”

“What happened between me and Mako had nothing to do with Asami.”

“Sure, sure,” Wu nodded and winked. “Well, I know I feel better about being turned down by both of you. Talk about barking up the wrong tree! I wasn’t even in the right forest! Ah! Just as well. I really don’t have time right now for a relationship. Maybe I’ll settle down after my first tour.”

Korra exchanged a glance and a smirk with Bolin over Wu’s head as he escorted them to some private chamber. A steaming pot of tea and a tray of bread, cheese, and smoked meats graced the table in the middle of the room. Two Dai Li agents stood against the opposite wall. The collar of one of them was different from the collars of the other agents she’d seen. She assumed he was higher ranking than the others.

“Avatar Korra, meet Lieutenant Han, head of the Dai Li,” Wu said, stepping to one side with one arm behind his back and the other gesturing between them.

The Lieutenant bowed and Korra and Bolin returned the courtesy. “I believe you’re looking for where the bandits are stockpiling the stolen spirit vines.”

Korra exchanged glances with Bolin. “What makes you think the bandits harvested the vines?”

“Yeah,” Bolin chimed in. “Why not the Uniters? Or the Kuvirites?”

“Once Kuvira’s surrender was announced, bandits attacked her supply warehouses,” Lieutenant Han explained. “They stole whatever they could, including spirit-vine-powered weapons.”

Korra felt her heart drop into her stomach. Immediately after Kuvira surrendered, General Iroh and select divisions of the United Forces had gone to oversee a peaceful transition of power. She’d arrived two days later after a couple of healing sessions and a few hours of sleep. They thought they’d secured and destroyed all of the spirit-vine technology.

A shadow with glowing eyes moved just at the edge of her vision. She clenched her fists and ignored it. “Where.”

***

Asami’s eyes darted across the lines of the newspaper article a fourth time, her morning cup of tea no longer steaming on the breakfast room table. The picture of Korra was a stock photo from the cleanup after Kuvira’s surrender – thin, tired, eyes intent, shoulders and feet squared. Fortunately, the weapons the bandits had stolen before the United Forces arrived to secure the kingdom hadn’t hurt anyone – nor was there a new spirit portal after the explosion.

Nearly a week had passed since their interlude over the phone. She’d still been giddy with the memory of it that morning in the shower. The headline of the Republic City Times brought her back to the reality of loving the Avatar.

Kuvira’s giant mecha had used most of the vines they’d managed to harvest the first time, so there hadn’t been much for the bandits to steal. Also, the bandits (and the remaining sympathizers) weren’t able to harvest much from the Banyan grove tree – it had learned from the prior attack on its roots and was much more effective at thwarting its enemies.

In the end, according to the article, Korra hadn’t had to do much. The chain reaction caused by one overloaded spirit cannon was enough to convince the idiots to surrender. She and Bolin were dealing with the cleanup, which was well outside of any village or city.

“Thank the Spirits,” Asami sighed as she laid the paper on the table. She looked up as her butler, Lee, entered the room.

“Pardon me, Miss Sato.” Lee bowed. “Avatar Korra is on the phone.”

Asami was out of her seat before he finished saying her betrothed’s name. “Thank you, Lee.” She offered a quick smile as she rushed past him to the hall phone, one hand fingering the ivory at her throat.

***

Seeing Asami’s grinning face waving from the train platform, green eyes bright and betrothal necklace bold, was the most beautiful sight Korra had ever seen. She couldn’t move fast enough to the exit of their carriage. She didn’t hear or see anything but her heart pounding in her ears and the love of her life running toward her with open arms.

Jasmine. Metal. Motor oil. Familiar weight in her arms. Curves pressed into hers. Soft, warm lips. Beeswax lipstick. Hair tickling her neck. Lungs burning. Joy. Love. Desire.

They finally broke for air, foreheads resting against one another’s.

“Hey,” Asami whispered.

“Hey,” Korra whispered back. She opened her eyes to see green eyes brimming with tears. Eyelashes black as jet. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Something odd moved in Korra’s peripheral vision. She turned her head to see Varrick in his “director” outfit standing next to a man with a camera on a tripod. She narrowed her eyes as she lowered Asami to the ground, shifting her feet and flexing her muscles as she felt for the earth below the tripod. A gentle squeeze on her upper arm caused her to look back at her betrothed.

“It’s okay,” Asami smiled. “We’ve worked out an arrangement.”

“‘Arrangement?’” Korra lifted an eyebrow. “What ‘arrangement’? I thought you were mad at him?”

“Oh, I still am.” Eyes flashed above a smug smirk. “I’ll explain later. Just ignore them for now.”

Korra pouted but tilted her head in begrudging agreement. She grinned when she was rewarded with a kiss on the cheek.

“KORRA!”

The Avatar stepped aside to prepare for the incoming airbenders running toward her at full speed. She hugged them all, trying to keep up with the banter between Ikki and Meelo. Rohan said nothing, as usual, just grinned with gapped teeth.

“Okay, okay,” Korra laughed, interrupting what was about to be another argument between the middle siblings. “I missed you guys, too.”

“The spiritual energy is back in balance, thanks to you.” Jinora smiled.

“The vines have stopped growing, too,” Asami added, placing a hand on Korra’s shoulder. “President Moon has already approved Future Industries’s plans to accommodate the changes.”

“Well done,” Tenzin said, joining his children with Pema at his side. “Avatar Korra.”

***

“Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh.”

Korra laid her head back into the built-in headrest of the giant hot tub in Asami’s bath. The hot spring that fed the communal bath at the Temple was a great temperature, but it didn’t have headrests or cupholders or massaging jets. It was nice to have a water massage without having to bend the water herself.

It was even nicer to have Asami massage her instead of … well, anyone.

They were facing each other in the tub. Asami had just finished massaging one leg and was pouring some oil into her hand from a fancy bottle. Although they (still!) hadn’t had sex, there was no awkwardness between them. Tension, yes. But this wasn’t their first post-battle bath session.

They’d bathed together, massaged each other, and helped each other heal. They’d seen each other naked countless times, especially when Korra was healing in the weeks after fighting Zaheer. They both knew that the best thing for both of them was a good night’s sleep.

Tomorrow might need the Avatar, and she needed to be ready.

She closed her eyes as Asami picked up her other foot and began massaging up from her toes. She winced as strong fingers worked out the knots along her shins. A fighter herself, Asami knew just the right amount of pressure to apply; there was a fine line between pointless and excruciating pain that close to the bone.

“You are sooo good at this,” Korra mumbled. She adjusted her torso just a bit so the water could pummel different points along her middle and lower back.

“Experience is the best teacher,” Asami replied. “I don’t always have time to book a healing session.”

“Mmm,” Korra sighed. “Do you prefer water or fire?”

Asami hummed in thought. “Depends. I prefer waterbending for this.” Asami squeezed her calf. “But I find bruises heal faster with firebending. I also prefer firehealing for chest colds.”

“Oh, yeah. Sinuses, too. Dries it right up.” Korra frowned. “I had a really bad cold when I was little. When my mom pulled the fluid out it felt like I was drowning.”

“I know that feeling. I had pneumonia when I was little. I felt much better when the waterhealer was finished, but feeling and seeing that mucus come out of you….”

Korra opened her eyes at the shift in tone. Asami was still massaging her calf, but her green eyes were downcast, eyebrows furrowed. Korra sat up, pulling her leg out of Asami’s hands and taking them into her own. She kissed the pale knuckles then held them against her chest.

“I’m okay,” she whispered.

“I know,” Asami said, looking at the water. “I just remember … when Su….”

Korra grasped Asami’s chin and tilted her head until their eyes met. She smiled as a strand of hair fell out the messy black top knot and brushed a damp shoulder. “I’ll always come home to you. I promise.”

“You can’t promise that.”

“Yes.” Korra nodded. “I can.”

Black eyebrows drew together. “Korra-”

“I promise.” Korra cupped her cheek. “I will _always_ come home to you.”

Green eyes shimmered. Korra could feel her wife-to-be trembling. “Promise?”

Korra smiled. “Promise.”

***

Korra awoke to the sun filtering through the curtains. She smiled at the familiar weight of Asami’s head against her chest. Yawning quietly, she carefully stretched the arm extended above her head. In the process, she knocked something off the adjacent pillow.

Eyebrows furrowed, Korra picked up the blue and silver item. It was a circular pendant of silver fortified with steel, the grade familiar to touch, attached to a simple blue-dyed leather band with matching clasps. The markings on the pendant were identical to the ones she’d so carefully carved into Asami’s betrothal necklace.

“I thought about platinum,” Asami murmured. Korra looked down as Asami lifted her head off the white tank top. “But, I figured you might need a bit of metal in an emergency. And the metal clasps should make it easy for you to take it off and put it back on.”

“Asami….” Korra sat up. She cupped Asami’s cheek and pulled her wife-to-be into a kiss. “It’s perfect.”

Asami smiled, taking the necklace out of Korra’s hand. “Avatar Korra. Will you be my partner and equal? On and off the battlefield?”

“Yes.” Korra grinned, her heart filling her chest. The Southerner sat still as she felt cool fingers fasten the band around her neck. The leather felt snug, but not tight. The weight of the pendant pulled it slightly away from the front of her throat, giving her mind room to breathe.

“There.” Asami left her hands behind Korra’s head, nightgown straddling a muscular thigh as the sheets pooled around her knees. When her fingers brushed the fine, short hair at Korra’s nape and the muscles trembled, her smile pulled into a smirk. “Cold?”

“Far from it,” Korra murmured before connecting their lips.

They started slow, mouths adjusting to the early morning, lipstick-less textures. Then tongues tested, tasted, thrust into each other. Asami’s hands moved to shoulders, pressing into them. Korra’s hands moved up the sheet from knee to thigh to hip, caressing a slender waist through lavender silk.

Taking a thigh in hand, Korra leaned forward until Asami was on her back and Korra was between her legs – never breaking the kiss. Thigh hand switched to support, support hand switched to the opposite thigh. Asami’s hands slid down to her unbound breasts, then cupped, then pressed, then kneaded, then grasped nipples through thin white cotton and tugged.

Korra gasped and shuddered, fingers sliding between linen and silk to grasp one of Asami’s firm buttocks. She grinned as she broke their kiss. “Someone’s not wearing underwear,” she mumbled underneath a slim jaw.

“Someone’s not fully assessing the situation.” Asami sucked in air as teeth pressed into the skin where neck met shoulder. “Mmm.”

“Is that so?” Korra licked and nursed the reddening spot as her hand slid down, fingers slowly gathering the silk until skin met skin. She trailed her fingers back up until they met a thin ribbon high on Asami’s hip. She followed it to the “T” it formed over the taller woman’s tailbone.

Korra groaned, hooking her thumb under the string and tugging up. Part of her wanted to rip the thin fabric off, but this was their first time. _Their very first time_. She _needed_ to savor each second, drink in every shiver and moan, commit every inch to memory. She would not be satisfied until her hands and lips had explored every peak and valley of the wonder of nature that would be her wife.

_And I hers_. Korra smiled as she released the garment and continued caressing the skin she could reach as her lips followed collarbone to silk neckline to the dip between perky breasts.

She sucked in a breath as fingers tickled her sides. No longer satisfied with feeling through fabric, Asami’s hands sought the skin under Korra’s sleep top. The silk didn’t give, so Korra satisfied herself with teasing nipples with her tongue through silk as she switched hands to pull up the other side of the nightgown.

Asami sighed and bowed her back, lifting her chest in offering. Korra devoured, ravaged each peak until her tongue was rough. She raised herself on her knees, the motion carrying the scent of musk with her. She smirked as Asami pouted, then slowly pulled her tank top off by the bottom hem. She watched her betrothed’s expression for as long as she could, green eyes dark and pink lips open as she exposed her breasts to the light.

Hands ran up quivering abs. Freed of one barrier, Korra shook her hair out of her eyes and watched the pale fingers slide up brown skin while tracing the shadowed divots between each muscle. When they could reach no higher, Korra leaned forward until her breasts were once again under their expert ministrations.

“Oh-hhh,” Korra breathed, closing her eyes as her hips ground between Asami’s legs. She bit her lip, trying to regain some self-control. “Whoa!” Her eyes flew open as she found herself on her back, head still toward the foot of the bed.

Asami winked before sitting back on Korra’s lap. She gave Korra the same tease show, eased the liquid fabric over her head, tossed her thick black waves so they settled seductively around her shoulders. The ends teased the flushed skin of her breasts, areolas smaller and darker around erect nipples.

Korra propped herself up on her elbows, taking in the glory of Asami in the filtered sunlight. Dark hair, emerald eyes, flushed cheeks, black and red betrothal necklace against alabaster skin, perky breasts waiting for hands to hold them, toned stomach, and below the belly button the ruffled edge of a triangle of black lace embroidered with red vines – lace so sheer she could see everything underneath it.

Or, rather, _nothing_ underneath it. Not one strand of hair. Just delicate gossamer straining against wet labias, a single drop of dew sparkling as it strained against gravity before falling to darken the blue fabric of her pajama pants.

Korra swallowed, her heart pounding rapidly in her ears. She clenched the sheets in her fists. The red vines began to snake into coiled chains—

“Korra? Korra. Hey. Look at me.”

She blinked. Green eyes with gold centers hovered before her. She focused on them as she breathed. Slowly. In. Out. Her vision cleared. Her heart returned to her chest. She laid back on the bed, clasping cool hands to her cheeks.

“There’s my love,” Asami murmured, smiling.

“I’m sorry,” Korra whispered.

“No,” Asami said, putting a finger to tan lips. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“But-”

“Shh.” Asami laid down on top of her, breast pressed to breast, jasmine and metal and motor oil easing the tension out of her shoulders. “There’s no rush.”

Korra rolled her eyes and snorted, fingers toying with the thin black string at Asami’s waist. “You _say_ that but you’re _wearing_ this.”

“I love you, Korra,” Asami said, sweeping a short lock off her forehead. “This isn’t a race. I’ll wait as long as it takes.”

“I love you, too. Bu, it’s been two _months_ ,” Korra whined with a pout. “And you’re wearing _this_. Do you have any idea what _this_ is doing to me?”

“Do you have any idea what your abs are doing to me?” Asami arched an eyebrow.

A drop of falling dew flashed behind Korra’s eyes. _Yes, yes I do_.

Asami’s chin tilted slightly with her “I-have-an-idea” face. “Maybe you’re just a little too wound up.” She shifted her weight to her non-dominant elbow, skin still flush but weight off of Korra’s rib cage. Her dominant hand deftly untied the drawstring of Korra’s pants. “If we took the edge off…?”

Her voice trailed, her eyebrow raised again, asking for permission. Korra nodded, licking chapped lips in anticipation.

Cool fingers pressed into skin, sliding under cotton drawstring waistband, then under linen shorts. Nails combed curly, dark brown hair, making the slow transition from dry to damp to hot and--

“So wet,” Asami murmured, eyes focused on Korra’s. She cupped all four fingers between Korra’s spread thighs, rubbing them through the soaked hair.   


“Asami.” A fingertip teased her aching entrance and Korra bucked her hips into the slender hand. “ _Please_.”

Asami’s response was a kiss, followed by two fingers sliding underneath her outer labia and stroking the sides of her swollen clit. Korra whimpered and shifted, gripping Asami’s supporting arm. She watched the pale forearm flexing against the dark skin of her stomach, abdominal muscles rippling with each breath, a blue-clothed bulge dancing between her legs.

The first strokes were varied – a little lower, a little higher, one finger, more fingers, more to the right or left. Asami was experimenting and Korra was her more than willing test subject. Finally settling on two fingers applying pressure along the sides and one finger rubbing across the extremely sensitive tip, Asami picked up speed until those three digits hit a steady rhythm that had the Southerner squirming against the sheets.

The buildup was so quick Korra almost didn’t recognize she was about to crash over the edge. She certainly didn’t have time to voice her state to her lover. She dug her fingers into Asami’s arm as she curled forward off the bed, mouth open, trembling as erratic ripples gathered into waves that finally ripped the breath out of her in a crashing tsunami of pleasure.

The muscles in her core contracted in concert, each one slightly weaker until she could finally relax enough to inhale. She fell back to the bed, still gripping Asami’s arm, gulping lung-fuls of air. Her breasts swayed, nipples cooling with each panting gasp. The slender hand continued to stroke – gently, slower, but ceaseless.

Korra stilled Asami’s wrist, pressing the slender hand firmly against her throbbing clit, sighing as the pressure eased the intensity of the aftershocks. She looked up at her betrothed, warm emeralds dark with desire, pink lips smiling with love. She offered a shaky grin in response. “Th-that was,” she cleared her throat and swallowed. “ _Thank_ you.”

Asami leaned down and kissed her, and she hummed into their connection. When teeth tugged at her bottom lip, she growled and reversed their positions again. She smirked as the taller woman ground barely covered shaven lower lips into her thigh, tugging at the waistband of her soaked pants.

“Off,” Asami ordered, narrowing her eyes. “ _Now_.”

Korra raised an eyebrow and removed the impatient hands, pinning Asami’s wrists above her sinful pool of sexy hair ( _how_ does she _do_ that?). “There’s no rush, my love. This isn’t a race.” She leaned over until her lips brushed the silken skin in front of Asami’s ear. “And I intend to take a _long_ time enjoying _this_.”


	6. Wedding

Asami hissed as she pushed the ball of her foot into flesh. Her fingers gripped hair, damp with sweat. She bucked against the hands and arms locking her in place against the persistent flick and rub of tongue across her clit. Try as she might, she couldn’t disengage from the Avatar’s attack.

In all honesty, she really hoped to lose this battle.

And lose she did when Korra sucked her in between lips and sped up the flick of warm tongue. She bowed and shook, crying out her lover’s name between moans and gasps. Hoarse, sore, and sweaty, she watched in sleepy satisfaction as Korra kissed up her hip and stomach and breast to her lips. She moaned at the salty, sharp taste of herself on Korra’s lips.

“Spirits,” Asami breathed, sinking into the bed. “You’re gonna be the death of me.”

“What a way to go.” Korra smirked, waggling her eyebrows.

Asami gave her shoulder a half-hearted swat. Korra sighed and laid down next to her, pulling her into the safety of strong arms, warm breasts pressed against her back. With a contented sigh, she fell fast asleep.

She awoke sometime that evening, the sun nearly finished setting. Her knee hit a cool, damp spot in the bed as she stretched and she wrinkled her nose. “Korra?”

When she didn’t get a response, she sat up in bed and looked around the room. Movement caught her eye as the curtains to the balcony fluttered in the breeze. Asami slid out of bed, easing herself to her feet. She grabbed her robe off of the hook, pulled the service rope next to it, and secured the fabric around herself as she headed outside.

She paused a moment at the threshold, taking in the sight of Korra staring across the private grounds of the estate, the purple and orange hues of the setting sun framing her features. She wore a spare pair of sleep pants and one of the undershirts Asami wore to train in the private dojo. The white fabric stretched against the Southerners’ larger breasts, nipples clearly visible.

“Korra?”

The younger woman turned her head, dying light burning in her blue eyes. She stretched out a hand and Asami crossed over to her, sitting in her lap, sighing into her neck.

“Hungry?”

Asami shook her head. Korra hugged her a little tighter, sighing deeply.

“I wish we could stay like this forever,” Asami whispered.

Korra hummed in agreement. They watched the sun slowly disappear over the horizon. “We’re getting married,” Korra said.

“We’re getting married,” Asami agreed, kissing her jaw.

Korra smiled. “I’ve been thinking-”

“Dangerous.”

“Hey, you. I’ve been thinking. I don’t want a huge ceremony. I know a lot of people are going to expect one, but I don’t wanna deal with all that political mumbo jumbo.” Korra pulled her head back until she could clearly see Asami’s eyes. “I know I’m the Avatar and you’re the CEO of a huge company, but I want our wedding to be about _us_ – not _them_. You know?”

“We could go to Ember Island and elope?”

Korra’s eyes grew wide. “My parents are still pissed about me disappearing.”

“Spirit World?”

“Too risky. My emotions are going to be pretty intense.”

“Mine, too.” Asami sighed as she heard the telltale click of her bedroom door closing.

“What was that?”

“Just Lee letting me know the coast is clear.”

“Lee?” Korra unwrapped her arms as Asami stood up. “Why was he in your room?”

“I rang for him,” Asami said. She took Korra’s hand and led her back into the bedroom. “Food and clean sheets.”

After dinner, the couple relaxed in a hot bath. Korra used her bending to keep the water hotter longer. Asami enjoyed laying back against her chest, idly playing with their fingers. She frowned as a recurring thought crept back to the surface, a sigh escaping her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Hmm?”

“Whenever you sigh like that something’s wrong.” Korra nuzzled her neck. “What is it?”

Asami bit her lip and sighed again. “Just thinking.”

“About?”

“Earlier, when I suggested eloping…? It made me curious….” Asami shifted so she could see Korra’s face. “Those six months you were gone? What … happened?”

Korra’s gaze shifted to the side as she thought about those days she was on her own. A frown creased her forehead. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” Asami continued to fiddle with their fingers. “Did you … date?”

The Avatar smirked and raised an eyebrow. “You mean did I share anyone’s bed?”

“Yes,” Asami admitted, shoulders dropping. “I know I don’t have the right to ask-”

“Of course you have the right,” Korra scoffed. “We’re getting _married_. There shouldn’t be any secrets between us.”

“Yes, but-” She stopped when Korra placed a finger on her lips.

“I did.” Korra met her gaze with sad blue eyes. “Some days I hated being me so much my skin would _crawl_. I had to … get out of my head. I got stupid drunk a few times. Shared a few beds. That seemed to help … until it didn’t.”

“What did you do then?”

“Train. Sleep. Lots of walking.” Korra shrugged. “I never stayed in one place for long.”

“I dated one man and one woman,” Asami shared.

“Sounds like a test,” Korra said.

“Of sorts.” Asami nodded. “I wanted to see if I preferred men or women.”

“And?”

Asami turned more and cupped Korra’s cheek with one hand. “I prefer Korra.”

***

“No.”

“Kooor-raaa! You’re not even looking!”

Korra sighed from where she lay on the bench in the boutique. She and Asami had decided to purchase their dresses separately, so it would be a surprise the day of the wedding. Pema, Kya, Jinora and Ikki came with her. It was the third shop they’d been to that day, and every single dress Ikki had chosen looked like a giant meringue.

The Southerner turned her head and looked at the dress Ikki held up. The sleeves were puffy with lace, the skirt was puffy lace, and there was a giant, puffy lace bow attached to the back. “No.”

“But this one’s blue!”

“No.”

“Urrgggghhh!” Ikki growled, stomping off. “Hmph!”

“Okay,” Kya said. “I think it’s time to head back home.”

“Awwww!” Both airbender girls whined.

Standing up, Korra stretched and twisted, loosening her muscles.

“I still don’t understand why you’re picking a dress when you don’t know _where_ you’re getting married yet,” Pema said.

“Heatbending.” Korra shrugged. She turned her head as a lady approached them. From the way the shopgirl who’d been helping them walked a step behind this woman, she figured it was the owner of the shop.

“Hello, ladies,” the woman said. Something about her tone made Korra frown. “Are we shopping for Master Jinora today?”

The five women exchanged glances. “No,” Korra replied. “We’re shopping for me. I’m getting married soon and-”

“I’m afraid we don’t have anything for women like you.”

Korra had to take a breath to keep the flames from reaching her fingertips. She folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean, ‘women like me’?”

The shopgirl backed up three more steps.

***

Korra sat low on the bench in the hallway of police headquarters, her arms folded and a murderous glare chiseled into her face. A pair of metal handcuffs was embedded in the wall opposite her. Mako sat beside her, his arms also folded, and sighed.

Korra whipped her head to the side. “Will you stop that?” she hissed.

“I didn’t say anything!” Mako huffed.

“You were breathing it!”

“You want me to stop breathing?”

“I want you to stop judging me!”

“I didn’t say anything!”

“You were breathing it,” Korra muttered.

Mako sighed.

“Urrrggghhh!” Korra leaned forward, rubbing her face with both hands before running them back over her hair. She remained in that position, elbows on knees and hands on top of head, breathing through clenched teeth. She refused to let a single tear burning her eyes to fall. She wouldn’t give that bigot shopwoman the satisfaction.

The familiar click of heels came towards them and Korra lifted her head. Asami was walking down the hallway with one of her lawyers, her jaw set and her eyes narrowed. Korra and Mako stood up as she approached.

Asami’s eyes softened when she looked at her wife-to-be. She cupped Korra’s cheek and Korra gently held the slightly calloused hand against her cheek. “She’s agreed to drop the arson charges.”

“Thank the Spirits,” Mako muttered.

“ _I’m_ the victim, here,” Korra huffed. “Remember?”

“You set her shop on fire.”

“No-ooo. I set _one_ very ugly _dress_ on fire.”

“A dress for which I just paid 3,000 yuan,” Asami sighed, letting her hand fall.

Korra’s eyes bucked. “Three? _Thousand_?”

“Wedding dresses are expensive,” Asami shrugged. “I’ve seen some as much as 20,000.”

Korra’s jaw dropped, then her shoulders drooped. “Wow.”

“Come on,” Asami said, taking Korra’s hand. Mako flanked Korra’s other side. “Let’s go home.”

***

Korra sat on the edge of her bed at the Temple, her treasure box open on her lap. The chest at the foot of her bed was open, her hygiene box with its dried oilskin wrapped tiger-seal bladders tossed haphazardly to the side.

Two hundred fifty-three yuan and 27 coppers. It had seemed like a lot of money the other day. She’d thought she’d had enough in her pocket to purchase the perfect dress (if she ever found it).

“Well, Naga.” She looked over as her best friend lifted her massive head off the floor and wagged her tail. “Looks like I need to get a job.”

***

“You’re hired!”

“O-kaaaay.” Korra raised an eyebrow, glancing between Bolin and Varrick. Bolin was grinning and nodding his head. “To do what?”

“To be the Avatar, of course!” Varrick grabbed Korra by the shoulders and pulled her into him. “All you have to do is give ’em that winning Avatar smile and they’ll buy every Varri-product I own!”

“Who’s ‘they’?”

“The public, kid! You’re a natural! The camera loves ya!” He let her go and tapped on the tripod sitting in the middle of the room. “We’ll make millions!”

“Yeah!” Bolin exclaimed. “Shooting commercials is easy! You just smile and say how much you like it, and people buy it!”

“What if I don’t like it?” Korra asked. She crossed her eyes as Varrick pointed a finger at the bridge of her nose.

“Youuuu … _act_ like you like it!” Varrick said. Korra narrowed her eyes and swatted his hand out of her face.

“I’m the Avatar,” Korra said. “I’m not going recommend something I don’t like just so you can make money.”

“Look, kid. If I don’t make money, you don’t make money,” Varrick stopped his pacing and pulled at his thin mustache. “You _do_ want to make money, don’t you?”

Korra frowned. She didn’t want Asami to have to pay for both of their dresses. And the wedding. And the reception. And the travel expenses of the guests. She thought about the look on Asami’s face if she found out she was telling lies to the public. For Varrick.

She looked sternly at Varric. “I’m not a liar, Varrick. Either we do this honestly, or no deal.”

“You can-”

“Honey!” Zhu Li’s voice drifted into the room from her presidential office.

“-bet your blue sleeves we’ve gotta deal!” Varrick said, pumping her arm up and down with a handshake.

***

“I can’t say this, Varrick.”

Varrick was standing to the side of the camera with his stupid hat and his stupid weird tie. “Sure you can! ‘Varri-cakes are delicious and nutricious!’ Easy!”

“They’re _not_ ‘nutritious’,” Korra said, rolling her eyes. “They’re just sugar and jam.”

“Breakfast of champions! Hey, I like that! Zhu Li! Uh, somebody! You! Copyright that!”

She looked off camera at Bolin, who was shoving a Varri-cake in his mouth. “Is he always like this?”

Bolin swallowed. “Nah. Marriage has really mellowed him out.”

“I’m kinda glad I was eaten by a dark spirit,” Korra muttered.

“From the top! Three! Two!” He pointed a finger and the wheel of tape began whirring.

“Hi! I’m, uh, Avatar Korra! And I just _love_ Varri-cakes!” She took a bite of the jelly-filled pastry, the overly sweet concoction sticking to the roof of her mouth. She choked down the bite, and smiled. “Mmmm! De-li- yeah, I’m not saying that.” Korra stuck out her tongue. “Can I get some water, please?”

“How can you not like Varri-cakes?!” Varrick yelled. “Everyone loves Varri-cakes!”

“You’ve had my mother’s kale cookies, _Iknik_.” Korra swished some water in her mouth from the glass Bolin handed her before swallowing, grimacing as she did. “You know Water Tribe dessert isn’t that sweet!”

“I love these things!” Varrick popped two kale cookies in his mouth off of a tray some assistant was holding next to him. “Sooo good!”

“How-?”

“From the top!”

***

Asami wasn’t expecting the pained groan from her bed when she flicked on the bedroom lights. “Korra?”

“Turn ’em off,” the waterbender mumbled, pulling the wet cloth from her forehead to cover her eyes.

Asami quickly turned on her desk lamp before returning to the wall and turning off the ceiling lamps. Korra sighed in relief. Sitting down gently on the bed, she placed two fingers on each of Korra’s temples and started massaging.

“Ohhh, you magnificent woman you,” Korra sighed. “ _Thank_ you.”

“What happened?” Asami couldn’t see any scratches or bruises. “Were you in a fight?”

“It felt like it.” Korra frowned. “I had no idea Bolin worked this hard.”

“Bolin?” Asami furrowed her eyebrows. “You’re working with Varrick?”

Korra nodded and swallowed.

“Why?”

“I had no idea Republic City weddings were so _expensive_ ,” Korra sighed. “I know you have the money, but you were already paying for the wedding and….” Korra lifted the towel off her eyes so she could look directly at Asami. “I just wanted to make enough money to buy my own dress.”

Asami’s heart sank seeing Korra’s pout. “Oh, Korra.” She leaned forward and kissed the full, puckered lips. She kissed them again. Then again. She smiled as a hand cupped the back of her head and fingers laced through her hair. “I thought you had a headache,” she teased.

“Your kisses cured me,” Korra said. “You’re a kiss-bender.”

“A ‘kiss-bender’, huh?” Asami giggled.

“Mmhmm.” Korra tugged on the collar of her shirt. “Let’s see what else you can bend.”

***

When Korra walked into the studio the next day, Asami was sitting in the director’s chair. “Asami?”

The CEO looked up from the file she was reading and beamed at her betrothed. “I realized last night that I forgot to tell you something.”

“Oh?” Korra stood behind the chair and wrapped her arms around Asami, kissing her temple. “What’s that?”

“Okay, people! Let’s get this … ehm.”

Korra noticed the flash in Asami’s eye and the smirk hovering near the corner of her perfectly painted lips. She’d seen several heavily armed men and chi-blockers fall before that look. Asami patted Korra’s arm and stood up.

“Good morning, Varrick,” Asami said cooly. “I’ll give you one guess why I’m here.”

“Hey! Can’t blame a man for making money! She came to me! I thought she knew!”

Korra blinked. “Knew what?”

“After he filmed and released the evening of our proposal,” Asami said, never taking her eyes off of Varrick, “our legal departments agreed that Global Enterprises would be paying for the wedding. _All_ of it. Dresses included.”

Korra’s mouth dropped open, then flame-blades came out of her fists. “ _Varrick_ ,” she growled.

“Heh-eh. Heh. Heh. Honey?”

***

“So, the _entire_ _time_ I’m making myself _sick_ shoving those stupid Varri-cakes down my throat,” Korra recounts, waving her hands, “he already _knew_ he was paying for our wedding!”

“That’s Varrick for you,” Mako said as they walked down the sidewalk. “Once a crook, always a crook.”

“Weren’t _you_ a crook?” Korra teased.

“Hey,” Mako smirked. “I’m reformed.”

“Sure, sure. Detective.” Korra giggled as Mako blushed. She stopped in her tracks and her mouth dropped open as she stared across the street. “That’s it,” she whispered.

Mako turned to look in that direction. “What’s i-i-i-?!” He ran to keep from falling as she jaywalked-ran across the street, dragging him behind her.

***

Senna pushed in the last pin before stepping back to admire her only child. Her hair had grown long enough to brush her shoulder, which meant the forelocks were just long enough for some bright blue-glass clips. The cap that contained the rest of her hair in its bun was embellished with the same blue-glass beads and alternating silver.

Korra’s lip trembled as her mother sniffled. “Mo-om, don’t.” She sniffled, too. “I’ll mess up my makeup.”

“I’m sorry, baby,” Senna chuckled, dabbing at her own eyes. “It’s just, I’m so _happy_ for you.”

Korra hugged her mother tight, holding her chin up so as not to get makeup on her mother’s dress. “Thanks, Mom.”

They both looked up at a tap on the tent pole. “Everyone decent?” A baritone voice called out.

“Yeah, Dad. Come in.”

Tonraq opened the door, the fur trim of his formal pullover fresh-snow white. His teasing grin faltered to a proud, soft smile. “You look beautiful, sweetheart.”

Korra looked at her bare shoulders above the long white gloves with blue-glass beaded arm bands. “It’s not really traditional.”

“You’re your own woman, Korra,” her father said, kissing the top of her head. “It suits you.”

Music began playing in the distance. Korra’s heart started pounding in her ears. She closed her eyes and took slow, deep breaths. In. Out. She opened her eyes when she was certain she’d avoided the howling rush. Her father placed a huge hand on her shoulder.

“Ready when you are.”

Korra smiled, then pulled her parents into another hug. She linked arms with them, took a steadying breath, then faced the door to her future.

“Let’s do this.

***

Asami wore her mother’s wedding dress. It was a little dated, and she was a little more muscular than her mother had been, but she couldn’t bring herself to allow the tailor to cut it. So, she was standing between Tenzin and Pema with a dress full of pins.

The white had aged to cream, and the crimson accents had turned to wine-burgundy. The long, lace-over-silk sleeves were perfect for the chilly early winter weather.

In the end, they’d decided on the park. The new park Zhu Li had bequeathed to the Air Nation as her first act as President of the United Republic. Only a few people were allowed to be so close to the spirit portal, and the dragon-eel spirit had made certain no wedding crashers ruined their intimate wedding. Varrick’s mover crew was taping the entire ceremony so that people across the world could share in their joy.

After the ceremony, they’d enjoy food and dancing at the temporary pavilion before changing into their gear and taking a honeymoon in the Spirit World. The timing of the honeymoon had pushed up the date of their wedding considerably. Their engagement had hardly been more than six months. But, the spirits insisted that they take their honeymoon during those two weeks, and they would not budge.

Asami glanced at the sky as they marched down the aisle to the music. The weather was perfect; the temperature was tolerable; and the spirits were bright. She smiled.

Then, she looked down at the other end of the aisle, where Korra was walking between her parents from her tent. She looked every bit the princess. Her halter-style dress was off-white, with Water Tribe symbols woven in silver. A blue-glass beaded “belt” accentuated her bosom, and the matching hem sparkled and flashed with every step. Her matching gloved hands held a bouquet of arctic lilies, their petals tinted pale blue at the tips.

Tenzin steadied her as she nearly stumbled, leaning down to whisper, “She’s radiant, isn’t she?”

Asami met her soon-to-be-wife’s bright blue shimmering eyes, and she fought the urge to run down the aisle and leap into those strong arms.

“She is.”


	7. Scars

_(Gaoxi State, Northern Earth Kingdom, 173 AG)_

_Korra frowned when she saw the goat-gorilla skull perched atop the village signpost, the sunbleached bone glowing in the early moonlight. Bandits, she thought. Although Kuvira and her forces had done a decent job of stabilizing the Earth Kingdom after the chaos Zaheer started, bandits had crept back into some of the smaller northern villages as the forces had moved south. _

_Torches were already lit for the night, flames licking at the cold and dark. Her hands shook, so she shoved them in the pockets of her green coat. Chains rattled behind her, though she refused to turn her head and look for the source of the sound; she already knew what she’d find._

_Flames swirled like blood in water before her tired eyes. She was exhausted, and hungry. This village was the first one she’d come across in three days, and she hadn’t eaten more than stale bread in two. She hoped the few coins in her purse were enough for a meal and a bed. Maybe even a strong drink or two to help her sleep._

_Anything to silence the rattle of chains._

_She licked her chapped lips as she searched for the symbols of an inn or a public house. Raucous laughter reached her ears. She focused on the sound and soon spotted a wooden sign with a crossed knife and fork in a circle._

_A few men stood outside of the building, eyeing her as she approached. Korra ignored them. Opening the door, inside she found several men and women, with similar neck and face tattoos, all talking and laughing loudly in various conversations. The volume decreased as they noticed her entrance, but the conversations continued._

_Behind the bar, a tall woman with the same face and neck tattoos leaned on the wooden surface. Half of her head was shaved, from the other half hung long, black braids decorated with beads. Several silver hoops pierced her exposed ear. She was leaning on the surface of the bar in conversation with two men. Korra could tell the woman was pretending not to notice her._

_Korra approached the trio. “You got a room?”_

_The woman slowly turned to face her, arching a black eyebrow over a dark green iris. She eyed Korra, taking in the weathered clothes and sunken eyes, before smiling broadly as she stood up and stepped toward her. “I most certainly do, darlin’,” the woman drawled. “And a bed.”_

_Blue eyes stared back at the woman, expression unchanged. Korra may not have had much relationship experience, but she’d been subjected to the lustful gazes of men and women since she was 15. She understood the woman’s tone all too well. She was also tired, hungry and low on options. “How much?”_

_“Darlin’,” the woman slowly shook her head as she blatantly stared at Korra’s hips. “This ain’t a inn. And tonight I’m not interested in coin.”_

_Korra glanced at the two men still sitting at the bar. One looked bored; the other far too interested for her comfort. “I can cook,” she said, turning her attention back to the woman. “And clean.”_

_The woman hummed in thought and leaned on the scarred surface of the bar. She wore a snug, black leather vest that showed off a good amount of cleavage. “Oh, I think we can find a better use of your time.”_

_Korra didn’t say anything, just turned to exit. The instant she did, all conversation trickled to nothing. She could feel the metal of hidden weapons under the tunics and coats of the bandits between her and the door. She didn’t want to kill anyone. She didn’t want anyone to recognize her. And she wasn’t comfortable fighting that many people without the Avatar state._

_She took a deep breath and angled her head to see the smiling woman’s face, keeping most of the bandits in her peripheral vision. She watched the woman’s eyes flash with fear before smoldering into something close to anger. “I’m not a slave. I’m not a whore. Call off your dogs.”_

_With a smirk, the woman snapped her fingers twice and the bandits relaxed. The bone game picked back up where it left off. Korra released her hold on the thin needle of silver she had pressed into the woman’s neck, hidden under the long braids._

_The woman re-shaped and replaced the earring, her eyes never breaking contact with Korra’s. “I think we got off on the wrong foot, darlin’.”_

_“Did we.”_

_“Val, take over. Odu, bring up the usual.”_

_The two men vaulted over the counter at the same time the woman did. She landed lightly next to Korra, then leaned back on the counter on her elbows. Odu went through a doorway to what Korra assumed was a kitchen._

_“We don’t enslave anyone. And I don’t share my bed with whores,” the woman said. “I do know what I want and I do go after it.” She tucked her braids behind her ear and winked up at Korra. “And I definitely want you.”_

_“Is that so.”_

_“I always go for the spiky ones,” the woman huffed, rolling her dark green eyes. “Look, darlin’. It’s obvious you don’t have enough coin to pay for more than a mug of stale beer. It’s also obvious you could use a meal and a good night’s rest.” She shifted her position, turning her body to face Korra while keeping one arm on the bar, resting her other hand on her hip. “We both have something the other needs. I’m just offering a trade.”_

_“That I can’t afford to refuse,” Korra said, jerking her chin toward the patrons._

_“I am a bandit.” The woman scratched her neck where Korra had threatened her with her own jewelry. “But I’m not a stupid one. Like I said, we don’t enslave anyone. If you don’t want a hot meal and a warm bed, you’re free to go.”_

_Korra raised an eyebrow._

_“Without the exit fee,” the woman sighed. She smiled, and it was almost warm. “You’re a fighter. And a smart one. I like that.” She stood up and stepped closer to Korra. “Surely we can make a bargain that benefits both parties?”_

_Korra’s stomach growled. She narrowed her eyes as she looked into the strange woman’s dark green gaze. They weren’t the green she longed for, but the white-eyed vision in the corner was creeping closer. She clenched her fists in her pockets. “Do you have a hot shower?”_

_The woman grinned._

***

_(Sato Estate, Greater Republic City, United Republic, 175 AG)_

_Korra wasn’t certain what woke her up, but she lay still and listened. The shadows across Asami’s bedroom told her it was nearing sunset. She glanced down at the tousled black locks resting on her bare chest._

_Their first time had been better than she’d imagined. Aside from the physical pleasure (which was amazing), her heart was full of the love and tenderness in between the breathless peaks. She’d never trusted anyone as much as she trusted Asami – not even herself. Smiling, she kissed her betrothed’s head and eased herself out of the bed._

_She paused mid-stretch as she felt it again, the sensation that roused her from her sleep. It seemed to be coming from outside. Scanning the floor and not seeing her pants, she hurried to the closet where she knew she had at least one spare. Throwing on one of Asami’s workout shirts to cover her top half, she went to the balcony doors and peeked out of the window._

_To her surprise, a bright yellow blob was hovering in the air. The blob grinned, and she grinned back. Korra glanced back at the bed to make certain they hadn’t disturbed Asami, then she quietly unlocked and opened the double doors and slid outside, leaving them cracked behind her._

_“Hey, little cutie,” Korra murmured. The light spirit landed on her shoulder as Korra headed for the furthest seat from the door. “What are you doing here?”_

_“You’re happy.” The spirit smiled at her, its body glowing bright._

_“Yeah.” Korra grinned as she sat, setting the light spirit on the warm glass top of the small table. “I am.”_

_“Good.” It nodded, its little leaves (ears?) bobbing with the motion. “It’s better when you’re happy.”_

_Korra tilted her head. “What do you mean? What’s better?”_

_“Everything.”_

_Korra furrowed her eyebrows, then smirked and shook her head with a sigh. She still had a lot to learn when it came to the spirits. She remembered when this particular light spirit had chased off her dark vision and led her to the Foggy Swamp. “Thank you, again, for your help. Do you have a name?”_

_It shook its head. “I like what you call me.”_

_“‘Little Cutie?’” When it nodded, Korra shrugged. “That’s more of a nickname than an actual name.”_

_It was the spirit’s turn to shrug. “I like it.”_

_“Fair enough.” Korra frowned as a thought crossed her mind. “How long have you been here?”_

_“I’m not as old as Raava,” Little Cutie said. “But I’m way older than you.”_

_“I bet,” Korra chuckled. “I meant how long have you been here. On this balcony. Today.” _

_“Since before the sun was highest in the sky.”_

_“Oh.” Korra felt herself blush. “You, uh, you didn’t … peek inside? Did you?”_

_The blob twisted its upper body from side to side. “No. I know humans don’t like spirits inside their buildings.”_

_“Good,” Korra breathed in relief. “That’s good.”_

_Little Cutie hopped from the table into her lap, then placed the side of its head against her stomach. “When will you have the babies?”_

_Korra had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. After a moment, she smiled down at the curious little spirit. “That’s not how it works.”_

_“How does it work?”_

_“Uhhh … well,” Korra said. “It takes a woman and a man to make human babies. Asami and I are both women. We can’t make babies.”_

_The light spirit stood up straight, a puzzled expression on its face. “But you’re the Avatar.”_

_“Sorry, Little Cutie,” Korra sighed and scratched the little light spirit under what could be its chin. It leaned into the contact with a smile. “There are some things even the Avatar can’t do.”_

_“ You can do anything, Korra.” Little Cutie said. It spread its stubby little round arms wide and pressed into her stomach._

_She returned the hug and smiled as a peaceful warmth spread through her. The leaves on the little spirit flapped and soon it was hovering in the air. They waved goodbye to each other and the spirit disappeared into the fading sunlight. Korra remained in her seat and watched the transition of colors in sky._

_She loved Asami. And Asami loved her. All of her. She knew that beyond the shadow of a doubt. For the first time in years – longer than she could remember – the darkness in her spirit was no more than contrast to intensify the light. She couldn’t wait to get married, to stand before the world and proclaim her love in return._

_“Korra?”_

***

(Spirit Portal Park, Republic City, United Republic, 175 AG, present)

“Why is your dress full of pins?”

Asami giggled into her ear, the caress of breath both soothing and stimulating. They’d quickly discovered that dancing was the only way they could talk and touch without being interrupted by someone congratulating them. The love of their friends and family was appreciated, but the only person Korra wanted – _needed_ – that day was the woman in her arms.

“It’s my mother’s wedding dress,” Asami said. “I didn’t want to cut it.”

Korra pulled away a little to look into those bright, warm emeralds. “You’re amazing.”

“ _You’re_ amazing,” Asami said. She kissed Korra, a light peck that left the shorter woman pouting for more. “Patience, Mrs. Sato. The cameras are still rolling.”

Korra grinned, her heart fluttering wildly at hearing the new addition to her name. “Mrs. Sato.”

Asami hummed and smiled, resting the side of her head against Korra’s as they continued swaying to the music. Somehow, her bride had managed to wrangle all of that thick, long hair into a smooth, pristine bun. Fully exposed, the betrothal necklace on the slender neck immediately drew every eye.

They were married. Officially. Papers signed. Vows witnessed. Recognized by the leaders of every nation. As the Avatar, it was important to her that they’d each officially announced their support. It was a touching gift from her parents, embossed copies of each proclamation bound together in a thin, leather volume.

A large hand softly landed on her shoulder. She’d recognize that touch anywhere.

“It’s time, girls.” The pair parted to look up at Tonraq. “You’d better go change.”

The two hurried into Asami’s tent, where all of their clothes and supplies had been stored. With a little bending they could’ve been fresh-faced and ready for adventure in 10 minutes. They finally emerged from the tent nearly 30 minutes after they entered, both flushed and the hint of a hickey hidden under the band of Asami’s betrothal necklace.

They were immediately engulfed in hugs and tears as they made their way to the spirit portal. At the rim, they waved one more time before turning to each other and entering the light.

***

The hues of pink and purple and blue from the field of flowers greeted them just as it had the first time. Spirits fluttered about as if it were any other day.

“Huh,” Korra said.

“Yeah,” Asami said, looking around. “I thought….” She shrugged. “I mean, they made such a big deal….”

“Yeah.” Korra shrugged. “Well, everything seems to be okay, so….”

Asami smiled and took Korra’s hand. “Where to? Mrs. Sato?”

Korra grinned. “I … may have made a reservation for us.”

“Oh? Where?”

“You’ll see.” Korra squeezed her hand and they started down the path. She could’ve willed them to their destination, but she wanted to enjoy this quiet time with just the two of them after all the noise and attention of the wedding reception.

Asami sighed and brushed shoulders. “It’s so peaceful here.”

“Yeah,” Korra sighed.

What seemed like an hour later they came around a bend on the path and a small two-story house with a green thatched roof and a large picnic table in the front yard came into view. It had been a lovely walk, filled with nothing more than loving looks and quiet observations of the beauty of the spirit world.

Asami’s eyes lit up as she recognized where they were. “How…?” She shook her head and smiled at Korra. “You really can’t map this world, can you?”

“Not exactly,” Korra said. “Everything’s related to each other, but not by distance. Or time.”

“Fascinating,” Asami breathed, looking up at the sky. Two steps later they were at the front door of Iroh’s home. Asami blinked and then smirked at Korra. “ _Someone’s_ in a hurry.”

“I have no idea to whom you are referring,” Korra said, knocking on the door with her free hand.

The wooden door creaked open and Iroh stood smiling up at them. “Korra! Asami! It’s so good to see you!” He hugged the women in turn. “Welcome to my home!”’

“Thank you so much for letting us stay with you,” Asami said. “I hope it isn’t an inconvenience.”

“Nonsense!” Iroh beckoned them through the door. “I was thrilled when Korra asked me. It’s nice to be able to help the Avatar when there isn’t an emergency threatening to end the world!”

All three laughed as he took them on a tour of his home. The kitchen, the music room, the tea room, the reading room, the sitting room. Each room was decorated in peaceful shades of green and gold and dark woods.

“You have a lovely home, Iroh,” Asami said.

“Yeah,” Korra said. “We stayed outside the last time.”

“Thank you, but I cannot take all of the credit. Like everything in the Spirit World, my home gives me what I need. It is a reflection of my own spirit. Although it is influenced by my desires, I did not build this house in a physical sense.”

Iroh began to climb the wooden steps. “Your room is upstairs. Do not be surprised if it does not look like the rest of my home. I have been told by my spirit friends that it changes to accommodate the guest. Which makes sense, as I would very much like my friends to be happy and comfortable while they are guests in my home.”

He stopped at a door and bowed before stepping aside.

Korra grinned at Asami. She opened the door and peeked her head inside. She could feel … something. Waiting. A very neutral waiting. It struck as … boring.

“What do you see?” Asami asked.

Korra looked over her shoulder. “Nothing.”

“Let me see?”

The two women swapped places. Korra watched Asami crane her neck around the edge of the door. She pulled her head out and shook it with a thoughtful pout. “Together?”

Korra smiled. “Together.”

They held hands and Korra led them into the room. A spark of light appeared in the middle of the space, then burst into color. A swirl of paint spiraled out of the center, growing wider as it filled the room. It was a dizzying sensation, and Korra fought the urge to close her eyes.

Eventually, the swirl of paint slowed and slid into place, revealing a room. A large room, with two large windows with heavy curtains hanging open at their sides. A simple bed with large, fluffy pillows was in the center of the room. A wardrobe, vanity, and desk stood against the walls. An open door showed a glimpse of a private bathroom.

“Whoa,” Korra breathed.

“This is incredible,” Asami said.

Korra let Asami’s hand go and the engineer began inspecting the walls and furniture. She stood still for a few moments, watching her wife ( _her_ _wife_!) touching and opening and mumbling to herself. The Avatar chuckled to herself as she removed her pack, placing it on a convenient hook by the door.

She nodded in appreciation at the hook then headed to the bathroom. Stepping through the open door, she saw a bathtub just large enough for two people to sit in. A shower head extended from the wall. A toilet was next to it, and next to that a sink with a mirror above it. Korra turned to leave and froze.

Eyes narrowed, she pushed the door until she could clearly see the full-length mirror on the wall behind it. It was her – same hair, same expression – but completely naked. Her face, her arms, her entire body was covered in bruises and burns and scars. On her torso, underneath the scars, she recognized Raava’s markings.

Korra reached up to touch her face. She pressed into her purplish-green cheek, almost surprised that she felt no pain. She gently traced over her lips and chin, twisted to fully see the black marks on her arms.

“Korra?”

She looked at Asami as the taller woman entered the bathroom, green eyes bright and curious. Her eyebrows furrowed as she took in Korra’s expression.

The Avatar took a deep breath and turned her head back to the mirror, confronted with her battered body. Korra slowly walked closer to it, then held up one arm. Burned into the reflected skin were black link-shaped scars and uneven splotches, where solid and liquid metal had burned into her body.

A gasp from behind her caused her to turn her head. Asami stood still, hands clasped over her mouth, tears in her eyes. “You can see them?”

Asami nodded her head.

Korra looked back to see they were now both reflected in the mirror. Both naked, both bearing a lifetime of injuries. Asami didn’t have as many, but blue eyes focused on a large, angry, red burn that covered parts of one side of Asami’s body. Realization dawned upon her and she turned to look at her wife. “You were there. The night your mother….”

Asami just nodded, her eyes still focused on the mirror. She blinked and turned her face toward Korra, her watery eyes wide. She smiled as she gently cupped Korra’s cheek. “After all you’ve been through.” She brought both hands to Korra’s face. “You’re still worried about me?”

Korra smiled, putting her hands on Asami’s hips and pulling them closer together. “Always.”

A few hours and a shower later, and they were actually naked, standing in front of the mirror.

“I don’t … oh! I remember,” Asami chuckled as Korra pressed a finger into her shoulder where the mirror showed a dark, finger width scar. “I was changing a tire and the bolt shot free. So stupid.”

“Stupid?”

“Tires and bolts on big trucks undergo a lot of stress. It’s easy for bolts to unscrew themselves with vibration, so those bolts are specially designed not to do that. You have to use a pneumatic drill to unscrew them, but if you do it the wrong way the pressure can cause them shoot like arrows.”

Korra kissed her shoulder. “You’re not stupid. It was a mistake.”

“A stupid mistake,” Asami said. She chuckled and kissed Korra’s pout. “I wasn’t supposed to take it off by myself. Father had warned me to wait for him so he could show me how to do it properly.” She hummed as she snuggled more into Korra’s chest. “I learned a valuable lesson that day. The hard way.”

“Patience?”

“Humility.” Asami turned her head to look at Korra. “You know, I think that’s the purpose of this mirror. To remind us of how much we’ve learned. The scars may have faded, but those experiences changed us. We are who we are today because of them.”

Korra hummed and kissed Asami’s neck. She rested her head against Asami’s, staring at the reflection of her blackened arm against Asami’s reddened side. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Honestly? I thought you knew. The entire city knew at the time,” Asami sighed. “We’ve done so much together that I forget sometimes we didn’t meet until we were teenagers.”

“It seems like a lifetime ago,” Korra said.

“I still want kids,” Asami said.

“That’s good,” Korra chuckled. “A little off topic.”

“But…,” Asami sighed. “I don’t … want to … give birth.” Asami turned around on the warm stone floor to face Korra. “Is … that okay?”

“Asami.” Korra kissed her nose. “Of course that’s okay. It’s your body. I’m not going to force you.”

Asami kissed her properly, pulling away before they got too riled up. “I love you.”

“I love you.” Korra pursed her lips. “How do you adopt kids?”

“It’s definitely more complicated than finding a polar bear-dog in a blizzard,” Asami chuckled and nodded her head toward the mirror. “Especially considering how dangerous our lives have been. It would probably be easier to find a donor for you.”

Korra frowned and pulled away. She shook her head as green eyes met blue. “I can’t.”

“You…?”

The Southerner sighed and took her hand and placed it on the shadow of a deep bruise that covered the entire lower abdomen beneath Raava’s mark. “I haven’t had a period in years. The poison…. I can’t.”

“Oh, Korra.” Asami squeezed her hand and tilted her head with her chin. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I don’t like talking about it,” Korra said. “I’m the Avatar, but I’m also Water Tribe. It … wasn’t easy to accept.”

Asami wrapped her long arms around her and Korra sank into the hug. Even after a shower in spirit water she could still smell that unmistakably Asami scent of jasmine, metal and motor oil. She held tight, pressing her nose into drying hair.

“I love you,” Asami whispered. She pulled back and looked into Korra’s eyes, a determined gleam in those green orbs. “We will have the family we’ve always wanted. And you will be an _amazing_ mother.”

Korra kissed her wife and a peaceful warmth filled her body. They may have suffered, they may be scarred, but they loved each other. And, together, they could overcome anything.


	8. Oasis

Asami smiled as Korra hummed sleepily against her chest. They were lying in bed in Iroh’s guest room, the curtains drawn, a soft blue glow from the outer spirit world outlining the windows. The lamp on the nightstand by Asami’s side of the bed circled the bed in an island of a warm, yellow light. They were both supine and naked, Korra’s head on her chest, her fingers running through Korra’s brown hair.

“I need to cut it,” Korra mumbled.

“Doesn’t it get in your eyes?”

“Yeah,” Korra yawned. She shifted against Asami and sighed. “I still like it.”

“I do, too,” Asami admitted. “It’s very sexy.”

Korra lifted an arm and flexed her bicep. “Don’t forget these.”

“I could never forget those,” Asami chuckled, squeezing the muscle. Korra smirked as she lowered her arm. “Korra?”

“Hm?”

“I want you to know, just in case we can’t adopt, that I-”

“No.”

“Let me-”

“No, Asami,” Korra sighed. She opened her cerulean eyes, tilting her chin up so she could meet Asami’s questioning gaze. “I know what you’re going to say. I can’t let you do that.”

Asami straightened a little. “As you pointed out, ‘it’s _my_ body’.”

“And you’ve already sacrificed too much for me,” Korra said.

“And you _haven’t_?” Asami scoffed. “ _Your_ sacrifice is the reason why we’re even having this discussion.”

“ _I’m_ the _Avatar_.”

“You’re still _Korra_.”

“Asami.” Korra sat up and turned so they were facing one another, one brown thigh bent against alabaster outside of the displaced blue sheet. “I love you. Since I’ve known you I’ve watched you sacrifice your happiness for the sake of others over and over. Mako, your father, your company-”

“And I’ve watched you sacrifice your _life_ for the sake of others!”

“ _I’m_ the _Avatar_. I was _born_ to sacrifice my life for the sake of others!”

“I know that! That’s why I-”

“No!”

“Korra.” Asami grabbed her hand and took a deep breath. “We _both_ _want_ _kids_. I’ve heard how difficult the adoption process is, especially for same-sex couples. We might not be _able_ to adopt.”

“Then we’ll find another way.”

“This _is_ another way. Please, Korra. I love you.”

“You and I both know how easily that can sour to hate,” Korra said, shaking her head, eyes downcast.

Asami inhaled softly, her eyes blinking back tears at the memory of her father spitting with rage as a platinum fist tried to annihilate her. She frowned as a calloused hand cupped her face.

“Nine months is a long time, Asami. Pregnancy isn’t easy. And childbirth can be dangerous. Even Katara has lost mothers.” Korra tenderly thumbed her cheek until she met a pleading blue gaze. “I don’t want you to resent me. I don’t want you to pity me. And I’d never forgive myself if I lost you.”

“I-I.” Asami cleared her throat as tears dripped off her chin. “I don’t pity you.”

Korra sighed. “Why don’t you want to give birth?”

“Korra-”

“ _Why_?”

“It doesn’t-”

“ _Why_ , Asami?”

“Because I can’t handle it! Okay!” Asami felt her body flush with anger and shame. “I’m already pushing my body to its limits! I can’t run my company and keep up my training and be pregnant! Every time I’ve had to leave your side because I couldn’t bend-” Asami choked on a sob. She shook her head against her wife’s hand as she waited for the hot lump to clear her throat. “I know my body will never be the same. I know Tokuga is still out there. I know that the unrest in the Earth Kingdom could produce more enemies. I’m already a target. I-I don’t want to be a burden.”

Korra pulled her quaking body into a fierce embrace. Asami clung to her wife, ugly sobs ripping from her throat as they sat in their honeymoon bed.

When the sobs had reduced to sniffles, she felt Korra pull away. She kept her eyes closed as cool water eased the burning irritation around her eyes and cleared the snot from her nose. She opened her eyes when a thumb and finger held her chin.

Clear cerulean eyes gazed at her in the lamplight. The light and love behind them filled her heart to bursting.

“I love you, Mrs. Sato,” Korra murmured. “I love your selfless heart. I love your brilliant mind. I love your strength and passion and determination. I love you. I won’t let you sacrifice yourself for me.”

“You’re the Avatar,” Asami whispered.

“Exactly.” Korra smiled. “I’d love to be a mother. But Raava chose me to protect our worlds. Parenting was never a guarantee.”

“We’re going to be parents,” Asami declared. “We’ll find a way.”

“I’m sure we will,” Korra chuckled. She kissed Asami’s nose and rested their foreheads against each other’s. Strong fingers shifted to the back of Asami’s neck and massaged the knot at the base. “Together.”

***

The next morning, Asami awoke to a bright orange surrounding the curtained windows and Korra’s steady heartbeat in her ear. She eased out of the bed and quietly went to the bathroom to relieve herself. She studied herself in the mirror again as she dried her hands. She gazed at the burns on her arm and shoulder and hip.

She remembered the pain. It was one reason why she’d excelled at the defensive arts. Few experiences had hurt as much as that night. She also remembered Mrs. Ticapuk, and how the waterbender had tended to her wounds so skillfully that it hadn’t even left a patch of shiny skin. Her father had been so grateful for Mrs. Ticapuk’s bending at the time. She wondered if the lack of a scar had made it easier for him to forget the good benders had done that same horrific night.

As she exited the bathroom, she noticed something on the floor at the door. It looked like a newspaper, as they are found slid under hotel room doors. Upon closer inspection, she discovered that’s exactly what it was – a copy of the Republic City Times, dated the morning after their wedding.

Smiling, Asami picked up the paper, opened the wardrobe and found a clean nightgown, put it on and carefully climbed back into bed. She turned on the bedside lamp, plumped the pillows behind her back, and opened the paper with a satisfied sigh.

She was almost finished with the crossword puzzle when a well-muscled arm slung across her thighs and pulled a solid mass of woman against her. She chuckled as she glanced down at the pouting face of her wife pressed against her hip. After a sniffle or two, one sleepy blue eye opened.

“Is that a newspaper?” Korra mumbled.

“Mmhmm. It was under the door.”

“Mm.” Korra readjusted, closing her eyes. “Anything good?”

“We made the front page.” Asami tapped the pen she’d found in the nightstand drawer against her lip. “We were mentioned in every section, come to think of it.”

“Let me see?”

Asami folded the paper to their picture on the front page. They stood in front of an arch of vines, post-nuptial kiss, grinning at the off-camera guests who were clapping and cheering their official union. Even in black-and-white, Korra looked gorgeous, her halter-style dress and its strategic blue accents showed off her strength and beautiful in perfect balance.

Asami had to admit her tailor had done an excellent job tucking and pleating her mother’s dress, the artificial fluting accentuating her figure. The high, open collar really showed off her long neck and her betrothal necklace immediately caught the eye.

“You look so beautiful,” Korra murmured, eyes fixed on the picture.

“I almost fell when I first saw you,” Asami admitted.

“No, you didn’t,” Korra giggled, looking up at her.

Asami nodded, smiling down at her. “I couldn’t take my eyes off of you.”

Korra’s eyes and shoulders softened with adoration. The next instant, newspaper and pen were forgotten as their lips connected with renewed fervor. They made love again, and again, seeking the spring of each other’s adoration like desperate wanderers crossing the Si Wong Desert.

Countless moments later, they lay facing each other in rapt silence. Their eyes searched each other’s, their fingers dancing and intertwining in the small space between their cooling bodies. A gurgling rumble emanated from Korra’s stomach and her eyes grew wide.

Asami started laughing and found she couldn’t stop, no matter how much Korra pouted. She allowed the first three blows of the fluffy pillows out of guilt, but retaliated when the fourth blow caught her across the mouth. They finally called a truce when Asami’s stomach joined in protest.

Showered, dressed and packs shouldered, they closed the door of the room behind them and headed downstairs toward the smell of sweet breads and sausages. They reached the landing just in time to meet Iroh coming out of the kitchen with a tray of food, cups, and a steaming pot of tea.

“Ah! The love birds have finally left their nest.” Iroh smiled. “Did you sleep well?

“Yes, thank you,” Korra said as she and Asami bowed.

“The room is perfect,” Asami added.

“Good! Good! Please, join me for lunch.”

“Lunch?” Asami and Korra exchanged glances. “We thought it was still early.”

“Time follows its own path in the spirit world,” Iroh said. They followed him outside to the picnic table. “Where are you going?”

“We don’t know,” Korra answered, glancing at Asami. “We thought we’d just see where the day takes us.”

Iroh hummed in thought as he poured tea for all of them. Asami inhaled the aroma of jasmine and ginseng with a smile. “This might not be a good time to wander aimlessly.”

Asami and Korra exchanged glances. They’d figured something was up when the spirits insisted they take their honeymoon so close to the solstice.

“Why?” Korra asked.

“Do you not feel the shift in energy?”

Korra nodded and shrugged. “I noticed, but I’m not sure how much is influenced by me.” She looked sheepishly over at Asami.

“The colors are certainly brighter since you arrived,” Iroh chuckled. “But there are other events influencing the spirit world and the spirits.”

“The solstice is coming soon,” Asami suggested before taking a bite of sausage.

“I’ve been here during the solstice,” Korra said. “It feels … similar? But … more.”

Iroh nodded, blowing on his tea. “This solstice is even more special than the full moon during your proposal, Korra. This will be the first lunar eclipse during a solstice in almost 500 years.”

“How does the lunar eclipse affect the spirit world?” Korra asked. She wolfed down a sausage link and picked up a sweet bun.

“The full moon increases the healing properties of spirit water. Even more so during a lunar eclipse. Although I have lived amongst the spirits for many years, there are still some secrets they have not shared even with me.”

Asami glanced at Korra just in time to see a faint glow surround her body, then fade. Korra’s eyebrows furrowed, then she looked over at Asami.

“Raava wants to show us something,” Korra said.

Asami raised an eyebrow, but a matching eyebrow and a quick shrug ended that line of conversation. They finished lunch, made a pit stop back in their private bathroom, then headed down the path that brought them to Iroh’s house.

The path wound in a different direction, and soon they were standing at the edge of a forest. Korra took Asami’s hands and faced her.

“This might be weird, but Raava wants to talk to both of us.”

Asami blinked. “Of course. I-I’d be honored.”

Korra leaned up to give Asami a quick peck on the lips. She beckoned for Asami to sit, and the pair of them shifted into comfortable positions, knee-to-knee, still holding each other’s hands. Smiling, Korra closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

A surge of light and tremendous power and peace filled Asami to her core. She hadn’t realized she’d closed her eyes until she opened them to find herself floating in expanse of starry sky. After a moment, she realized that the constellations formed a giant Korra, hair flowing loose down her back, hands surrounding a floating orb of pure light.

“I’m right here.”

Asami turned her head to focus on the Korra in front of her, short hair undulating in an insensible wind. Behind Korra rose a white, two-dimensional, triangular being of light with blue markings nearly the same color as Korra’s eyes. “Raava.”

The being nodded in acknowledgment, then flowed between them with a flourish, shrinking herself to be less intimidating. A rich, resonant, deep, female tone reached Asami’s ears without sound.

“Asami,” Raava began. “Your spirit is brighter than that of most humans. I am glad that Korra has chosen you to be her heart’s balance. As a spirit, even after 10,000 years of being fused with human souls, I still do not fully understand humanity. The Avatar has always needed the love of other human beings to maintain their own balance.

“As one of the spirits formed near the beginning, there are many things I know about the spirit and human worlds that time has erased from collective memory. Although the bond I share with the Avatar has been short in comparison, it has so shaped the balance of our worlds that I can no longer keep the balance between light and dark on my own. Especially now.”

Asami narrowed her eyes as a purple light pulsed within Raava, then faded away. “Vaatu.”

The spirit of light nodded. “Yes. He sleeps within me, but he will not remain in me forever. In the future, during one of our many reincarnations, Vaatu will split from me and our battle will begin anew.”

Asami looked at Korra. A determined frown was set on the Southerner’s face, her eyes unflinching as she gazed up at the spirit. The engineer looked back at Raava. “How can I help?”

“You are helping now,” Raava said. Asami felt the gentle amusement in her tone. “But that battle will be fought long after both of your physical bodies are returned to dust.”

“Why did the spirits want us to be here for the lunar eclipse?” Korra asked.

“Gratitude, Korra.” Raava’s tone rung with pride. “ _You_ defeated Vaatu and prevented 10,000 years of chaos and darkness. Your will and determination has ensured the continuation of the Avatar cycle, and made a future of harmony between humans and spirits possible.

“The water that nourishes the Tree of Time and flows throughout the spirit world comes from The Source. The Source only awakens to replenish those waters during the few days before and after the lunar eclipse of a solstice. The waters that spring from The Source during these precious few days have properties humans and spirits would wage wars to obtain.”

“How many spirits know about The Source?” Korra asked.

“Most spirits do not know just how powerful The Source is, nor should they. All spirits know the waters closest to it have the greatest healing properties. They have asked The Source to allow us to enter the Oasis of Existence. The Source has agreed to reverse the physical damage wrought by the metal poison.”

Asami looked at Korra, glittering tears flowing down her brown cheeks, eyes wide in hopeful disbelief. Raava wound around them, and Asami cried with Korra from the embrace of a thousand mothers.

***

Once they returned to their bodies from the astral plain, they found the path that wound next to the forest had disappeared under a tall field of grass. It rose up to their shoulders all around them, waving in beautiful shades of gold and copper.

Korra let go of one hand to wipe her eyes. She grinned at Asami, as she dabbed at her wet face with a blue sleeve. “Told you there was another way.” Her voice warbled and she swallowed back another wave of joyful tears.

Asami shifted to her knees and pulled Korra into a tight hug. They held each other, fingers clutching fabric as their human minds slowly accepted that fantasy could indeed be reality.

“Hello.”

Both women pulled apart as Korra chuckled. Asami looked down to see a cute little yellow, chubby gourd with four stubby arms and two stubby legs and green leaves positioned like ears on its head.

“Hey, Little Cutie,” Korra greeted the spirit.

***

It turned out that Little Cutie was one of many, many light spirits that looked extremely similar to it. As the spirit led them to the Oasis of Existence, other light spirits joined them on their journey. Asami could make out some differences between them, disparities in height or diameter or length of leaf. The new each other as individuals without the need of names, and understood exactly to whom each one was referring when they discussed each other.

Apparently, the light spirits made this pilgrimage to the Oasis every solstice lunar eclipse, to renew themselves in the waters of The Source. They were excited to share this experience with Korra, and for Raava to be rejuvenated as well.

They were also very curious about Asami. And human mating. Apparently, they all seemed to believe that love was all that was necessary for two humans to make babies. She caught Korra’s eye, and Korra offered a shrug and an eye roll that implied that she’d already tried – and failed – to explain this. It was a beautiful thought, and Asami was loathe to disillusion them. So, she just politely denied that either one of them were pregnant and instead asked them about the places they enjoyed visiting most in the physical world.

They eventually approached a thick jungle with a cool, dry, refreshing breeze. The contrast between climate and expectation was sharp. They pressed further into the jungle, the light spirits bringing them various fruits to fuel the humans as they continued on the pilgrimage.

Finally, as the “sun” set and the sky turned from rosy purple to deep blue, the caravan suddenly wove through the last of the vines and stood on the bank of a vast river at the mouth of a waterfall. An oddly quiet waterfall. The water flowed over the crest in a whisper and crashed into the rocks below with a hushed murmur. There was a smooth stone stairway leading up one side that seemed to disappear behind the softly rushing water.

“It’s so quiet,” Asami whispered.

Korra nodded. She inhaled a deep breath, and cupped both hands to her mouth. “HEY!!!!” she shouted. Her voice echoed loudly off the rocks while the water continued to peacefully fall. “Huh. Guess it’s just the waterfall that’s quiet,” Korra said.

Asami crossed her arms. “Was that really necessary?” She asked in a normal volume.

Korra shrugged and grinned. Asami shook her head and turned in a slow circle, taking in their surroundings. The light spirits were playing tag at the edges of the river, climbing trees, flying, dancing, singing and laughing. She smiled as she watched them.

“Asami.”

She looked up, and Korra was smiling at her, a hand outstretched. She took a moment to admire the gentle confidence in the Southerner’s broad shoulders and round hips before she smiled and grasped the offered hand.

Without a word, she followed Korra up the stone steps.

***

Korra smiled back and led the way. She felt energy pulsing through her, growing stronger with each step. The love and desire she felt for her wife was growing as well, with an intensity that was difficult to ignore.

They headed up the smooth stone steps that led behind the waterfall. Halfway up Korra let go of Asami’s hand and switched places, following a couple of steps behind Asami to catch her in case she slipped on the wet stones. From the new position, Korra couldn’t help but appreciate Asami’s hourglass frame.

_Spirits. She even makes jodhpurs and a racing jacket look sexy._

Shaking her head, Korra tried to focus on maintaining her footing. She was so focused on her footing that she almost collided face-first with Asami’s rear end. Slightly flushed, Korra looked up and cleared her throat.

“What is it?”

“The waterfall,” Asami answered.

Korra observed the step above Asami. Sure enough, the stair was completely blocked by a wall of silently rushing water. Korra took a stance, felt the energy of the water, and pulled it apart with the backs of her hands like a curtain.

As soon as she opened the way, a crescendo of sound hit them. It stunned them both for a moment. Asami whipped her head around to face Korra, her mouth moving.

“What?!” Korra shouted against the raging water crashing into the river below them.

Asami grasped Korra’s closest arm and pulled her forward. As soon as they both passed through the opening, Korra released her hold on the water’s energy. Suddenly, the waterfall was only a whisper again.

“What the…?” Korra muttered, holding on to Asami’s arm for balance.

“I think it’s a sound barrier, just around the waterfall,” Asami said. “Did you feel anything?”

Korra ran a hand along the rock, reaching into the energies surrounding them. “Just the same spirit. Maybe I’m just picking up on The Source?”

Asami shrugged in response. Korra took a deep breath and focused on the cave where they’d found themselves. A stream of water was flowing down the middle of the cave before it fell down to the river below. They followed the path deeper into the cliff, noting quietly to each other as the type of rock changed.

The ceiling of the cave kept creeping higher and higher the deeper they went, until it suddenly opened up into a huge chamber where the water pooled in the middle. The black rock floor was no longer porous in this part of the chamber. It was the glossy shine of polished obsidian, the veins of silver more prominent throughout the walls and the bottom of the shallow pool of steaming, crystal clear water.

Light, as bright as the moon above yet as warm as the sun, emanated from the silver streaks of the rock. Benches were carved into the walls of the pool all around, and two sets of steps led into the water equidistant from each other. A set of nooks, like shelves, were carved into the wall next to each set of steps, and a large bowl with a pile of the black pumice stone sat beside them. A small, quick stream of water flowed out of the pool, rushing into a crevice that Korra could feel led to the waterfall.

“The water actually comes in from a fissure at the _bottom_ of that shallow pool.”

“Who carved all of this?” Asami asked, running her hand over the wall’s smooth surface.

Korra shrugged. “Some spirits build oases around the Spirit World, a place where other spirits can gather and rejuvenate without fear of danger. It’s one of the few memories I have of Avatar Wan. Usually, it’s guarded by a caretaker spirit.” Korra put one hand on the floor and reached into the energy, feeling for another presence. Not finding anything, she shook her head and stood upright.

“Like a hotel, for spirits.”

“Something like that.”

Asami knelt by the side of the pool and cautiously grazed the surface with the back of her hand. “The temperature’s perfect,” she said, voice laced with surprise.

“Well, then,” Korra chuckled, walking past Asami toward the nearest set of shelves, making certain to trail one hand along Asami’s hip as she did. “What are we waiting for?”

Sitting on a carved bench, she proceeded to unfasten and tug off her boots. Korra deposited them and her pack in one of the nearby cubbies. She stood and faced Asami, waiting for the emerald-eyed beauty to pull off and stow her boots and backpack. Asami met Korra’s gaze and raised an eyebrow. Korra smirked and took a step forward, cocking her hips just so. She silently unfastened her arm guards, slowly rolling them down her arms, revealing the well-defined mocha muscles underneath the navy blue fabric in increments.

“What are you doing?”

Korra huffed and rolled her eyes. “I’m obviously trying to seduce you.” She unbelted her short, hide skirt, folding it and placing it in a cubby.

“Here?” Asami folded her arms. “Isn’t that … inappropriate?”

Korra shook her head. “I can’t explain it, but I get the feeling that this place is meant to … celebrate … love. And life.”

“Oh, really?” Asami unzipped her racing jacket, pulling it off and revealing long, toned porcelain arms and a sleeveless, high-collared tunic the same shade of purple as her eyeshadow.

“Yes, really,” Korra winked. Taking a step closer, Korra pulled the hem of her tunic out of her pants and slowly pulled it up her torso. A chiseled eight-pack stomach molded in mocha emerged, followed by the curve of breasts bound in strips of white linen.

Korra inhaled sharply when a cool hand touched her stomach as she pulled the top over her head. She shook her short, dark brown hair out of her face and opened her eyes to find Asami in front of her, one hand tracing the lines of her stomach, a faded red bottom lip pulled in underneath a perfect row of white teeth.

“In that case….” Asami breathed, one finger trailing the line of Korra’s obliques down to the waist of navy blue pants.

Korra held Asami’s wrist, stilling the engineer’s hand. Her other hand reached up and cupped Asami’s cheek, turning the blushing beauty’s gaze until emeralds met sapphires. Korra smiled softly and released Asami, dark hands slowly drifting to the hidden clasps that fastened Asami’s tunic. She stepped back as Asami quickly pulled the lavender garment over her head, placing it haphazardly into an alcove. Asami pulled her long, thick, black hair back over her shoulders. A black, satin bra held her breasts, flushed chest heaving above a firm, flat abdomen.

Korra swallowed hard and licked her lips, eyes focused on the curve of that shiny black fabric. Tan fingers pulled at the drawstring of her own pants. When she finally loosened the knot she let them fall and stepped out of them, revealing her pale blue linen underwear.

Asami dropped her gaze to take in Korra’s pants-less form. A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she unbuttoned and unzipped her jodhpurs. She met Korra’s burning blue gaze again as she let her pants fall. “Who’s seducing who, now?”

“Oh, wow,” Korra breathed, taking in the matching black satin panties that accentuated Asami’s hips at just the right part of the curve. Korra was embarrassingly aware of how wet she was between her legs. She took a few deep, centering breaths as she tried to calm herself enough to continue their mutual striptease.

Asami, however, had other ideas. Korra watched as the porcelain-skinned woman closed the space between them once again, hands softly grazing up Korra’s bare sides. Korra trembled as she tried to maintain her breathing.

“May I?” Asami whispered.

Korra felt her insides clench. She mutely nodded her head, taking one of Asami’s hands and placing it where the end of the strip of linen was tied and tucked. She placed both hands on Asami’s shoulders as the engineer slowly untucked, untied, and unraveled the long strip of white cloth that bound her breasts. Korra sucked in a sharp breath as the relief of her release sent a jolt of pleasure between her legs.

Asami let the strip of cloth fall to the floor as she cupped the full, dark breasts before her, gently rubbing her thumbs across chocolate nipples. Korra hissed, the sensation painfully overwhelming. Asami placed a palm gently on either nipple. She tenderly massaged each breast with her slender, slightly calloused hands. Korra hummed in approval, admiring the contrast of Asami’s pale hands against her dark skin. Korra moved her hands from Asami’s shoulders and reached behind the nonbender’s back to unfasten her bra.

Korra watched as Asami shrugged the garment off. She revealed pert, flushed orbs capped with dusty rose, constricted circles and matching, firm nipples. Her dry mouth suddenly watered and she swallowed to prevent herself from drooling. She felt Asami’s thumbs hook onto the waistband of her underpants, breath ragged as the smooth nails trailed to the front and unbuttoned the simple underwear. The smell of jasmine and motor oil filled her senses as Asami leaned into her ear.

“Your turn,” Asami whispered.

Korra nodded, slowly dropping her hands until she was certain she could hold her own weight. She pulled her underwear down past her muscular thighs and stepped out of them, leaving them on the floor next to her bindings. She stood before Asami, fully naked with nothing more than short, dark brown hair covering her head and even shorter, darker curls between her legs.

Korra watched as Asami wriggled out of the black satin panties, dropping them unceremoniously next to the matching bra. There was no hair between Asami’s legs, nothing but a smooth, uninterrupted alabaster canvas from neck to red painted toenails. Korra swallowed again, hard, before meeting Asami’s burning green gaze.

In a flash of arms and lips they were pressed against each other, pulling, tugging, barely breathing as they intertwined their bodies. At some point Korra found her back against the wall, one of Asami’s legs flushed deliciously between hers. Korra ground her clit against the smooth skin, moaning into the older woman’s mouth as the friction found purchase. The next moment Korra was soaking in the sound of Asami’s throaty affirmations as she pressed the engineer’s back against the wall, her mouth and tongue teasing nipples with fluttering strokes and passionate suckling.

And then, suddenly, both were soaked.

She immediately felt herself enter the Avatar state, the warmth of Raava filling her as they crested the surface. Asami was now facing her, hands gripping forearms. The water pulsed around her, thrumming with powerful energy. Korra followed her instincts, drawn to her sea of chi, just behind her navel. She focused on the energy of the healing water, felt the power build within her until it suddenly flowed throughout her body, coursing through every vessel.

She breathed through the healing process as she felt the energy trickle deeper and deeper within her womb. The blood and lymph vessels slowly opened as they were cleared of years of scarring from the metal poison. The energy built until every vessel opened fully and the flow of life traveled from heart to tissue and back to the heart again without pain or hinderance.

Korra’s heart beat slowed and the glow of the water faded along with the ethereal light behind Korra’s eyes. She breathed a small, quiet sigh of relief as tears flowed down her cheeks. She opened her eyes to find Asami still in front of her, emerald eyes wide, manicured eyebrows furrowed in concern.

Korra smiled at Asami, tears still flowing. “I’m healed,” she said softly.


	9. Spirits

(Air Temple Island, Yue Bay, 176 AG)

“So, you see, Avatar Korra, we couldn’t possibly be part of the proposed Confederacy.”

“Actually, no, I _don’t_ see,” Korra huffed, turning in Tenzin’s chair away from the window where she was watching Asami sparring with Opal. Her grip tightened on the earpiece as she glared at the map on the wall. “Considering that I am _married_ to a _woman_.”

“With all due respect, Avatar. The spirits have chosen not to bless you with child. Is that not evide-”

“You know _nothing_ about me or the spirits!” Korra realized she was standing, one hand planted on the wooden desk. “The spirits are _happy_ that I married _Mrs_. Sato. They don’t see a difference between male and female humans. They just see _humans_.” She sniffed, frowning at the smell of smoke. She looked down and rolled her eyes at the black handprint she’d just scorched into her former teacher’s desk.

“Perhaps.” The magistrate sounded irritated. It pleased Korra as much as it pissed her off. “We should discuss this another time.”

“Sure.” Korra nodded to the empty room. “In person. I’ll be in Zaofu next week. I’ll drop by.”

The Avatar hung up without saying goodbye, the earpiece clattering with the force of her disgust. The rattle echoed, and she dared a glance over her shoulder. There was nothing behind her, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that _something_ had just been there.

Korra covered her face with her hands and sank into Tenzin’s chair with a muffled groan. Tears threatened to form and her throat felt tight, so she tilted her head against the high back.

It had been three weeks since her last miscarriage, her third since they’d started trying. Asami had been right – getting a donor had been _much_ easier than navigating the adoption process. They were waiting for word on their last appeal, but their lawyers had warned them not to be too optimistic.

As it turned out, the biggest hinderance to them adopting a child wasn’t their gender. It was their lifestyle. As the Avatar, her schedule was erratic and often led to weeks away from home, risking her life. As a member of Team Avatar, Asami faced the same challenges, as well as spending peace time working long hours running Future Industries.

Everyone they knew had written letters, given depositions – Wu had even performed an original song in support (along with a dance routine involving badger-moles). None of the kind words had changed the minds of the adoption committees. There was just too great a risk of re-traumatizing an orphan by making them an orphan again.

After the second miscarriage, Korra had seriously considered giving up. Maybe they _were_ being selfish. Maybe it _wasn’t_ fair to subject an innocent to the stress and trauma of their lives. Asami had kissed her tear-streaked cheeks and fixed her with a stern glare.

_“Both worlds have thrown the worst at us, and we’ve survived. We’re stronger and smarter than we were then, so I’m confident that we can handle what is to come. And, if by some twist of fate we don’t survive a future battle before our child is of age, they won’t be left to fend for themselves. The Southern Water Tribe, the Air Nation, Mako and Bolin’s family – spirits, even Wu will help take care of them. They’ll be loved, by the people who love us.”_

Still, this last one…. Korra swallowed against nausea at the memory. The sight of the blood in the bath water had sent her into a panic attack fueled by fear and fury. She’d wrecked half of their wing at the Sato Estate, the outcome of a ludicrous attempt at destroying the chain-wielding specter she’d blamed for her loss.

_Still_ blamed for her loss, if she were honest with herself.

Which is why the married couple was currently staying at the Temple. Or, at least, that’s what everyone said. Korra knew part of it was to keep an eye on her. She didn’t blame them. She knew how close to the edge she was, how close to losing control. That handprint was yet another reminder.

“A-ah!”

Korra’s head snapped forward and she whipped the chair around to the window. To her horror, the love of her life was on the ground, curled in a ball, blood splattered across the stones. “ASAMI!”

***

“I’m _so_ , _so_ sorry!”

“Opal,” Asami huffed. “For the last time: It wasn’t your fault.”

Opal glanced nervously at Korra. For her part, Korra pretended not to notice.

“I know,” Opal continued, tears in her eyes as Jinora rubbed her back. “But I shouldn’t have”

“Enough.” Asami held up a dripping hand. “I lost focus. It was a good shot. Very well executed.”

Korra flinched at the last word, but kept her focus on the pool of water and Asami’s healing leg. The break, though the bone had broken skin, had been clean. It would heal without any long term issues. The nonbender would have to limit her activities for a week or so, but then she’d be fine.

It had taken only seconds for Korra to fly to her wife’s side. She’d shouted at Opal. She couldn’t remember exactly what she’d said, but it was definitely something close to “get the fuck away from my wife you fucking idiot”. Yelled loudly. Loud enough for the entire island to hear. Which is why Jinora was in the healing room comforting Opal.

Kya stood by with her arms folded, leaning against a table with her hip. Opal and Jinora stood just inside the door. A sniffle came from their direction.

The Southerner sighed as a damp, slender hand squeezed her knee. “It’s okay, Opal,” Korra said, keeping her voice as even as possible. “You were sparring. Stuff like this happens.”

She glanced up to see relief wash over the older airbender’s face. Refocusing on the injury, she was rewarded with another squeeze.

“Alright,” Kya said, heading to the door. “Korra’s got it from here. Let’s go put together a good post-healing snack. Hm?” The grey-haired waterbender ushered the two airbenders out of the healing room, shooting a pointed look at Korra as they exited.

Healer and patient kneeled and reclined in silence for several minutes after the trio left. Once she’d nudged the last bit of skin into place and assured there would be no scar, she widened her movement, encouraging healing throughout the nonbender’s body.

A quiet sigh was her reward. With a small smile, she continued until a wet hand stayed her arm. Korra looked down at her wife, emerald eyes reflecting the fading glow of the water.

“I’m okay,” Asami murmured.

Korra nodded. She heaved a heavy sigh. “I’m not.”

Before the first sob escaped, Asami was out of the pool and pulling her into a sodden embrace. She clung to her wife, the tears she’d been fighting falling hot and fast. “I can’t,” she choked out, over and over. “I can’t.”

Asami rubbed her back, softly repeating, “I love you” in her ear. When the sobs had quieted to sniffles, Asami said: “It’s your call, dear heart. Whatever you decide. I’m right here with you.”

***

Korra sat next to Asami. Then stood and paced. Then sat. Then repeatedly bounced one leg until Asami placed a hand on her knee. She huffed at the poised socialite and folded her arms. “How can you be so calm?”

“I’m not,” Asami admitted. “I’ve just developed less physical coping skills.”

That raised Korra’s curiosity. “Like what?”

“Reciting things, mostly. Multiplication tables. The periodic table of elements in order by atomic number. Things like that.”

“So, the adult version of counting backwards from five.”

Asami smiled. “Basically.”

There was a knock on the door, then it opened and Dr. Tarkik peeked his head around it. “May we come in?”

“Yes,” the women agreed. The tall Water Tribe man was followed by a short man of mixed Water Tribe and Fire Nation heritage, Dr. Kaito. Both men bowed. Both women reached for each other’s hand.

“We believe we know why you haven’t been able to maintain a pregnancy, Korra,” Dr. Tarkik began. “Dr. Kaito’s lab tests showed that the number of viable eggs in your ovaries are lower than average for a fertile female your age.”

“How much lower?” Korra asked.

“The average is between two and four,” Dr. Kaito said. “Yours is closer to zero- _point_ -four.”

Korra’s heart sank. “Oh.”

“It appears that the healing process couldn’t recover the already damaged eggs. Unlike skin or bone or blood vessels – or sperm – women cannot replenish the eggs they’ve lost,” Dr. Kaito said. “Also, the process of releasing an egg skews the odds further. For every egg released, three are sacrificed. The odds that the living eggs being released as opposed to the damaged eggs is very slim.”

“That’s not to say it’s not possible,” Dr. Tarkik said. “Your lab values are in range with the average menopausal woman. Some women do have unplanned children late in life.”

“But we don’t have the ability to ensure the living egg is the one that gets released,” Dr. Kaito said. “We’re sorry.”

Korra nodded. She stared at the floor as Asami rubbed her back.

***

Korra dried her eyes with the back of her hand. Or, rather, smeared her tears. She sat on the balcony chair furthest from the double doors. She hadn’t been able to fall asleep, but she’d pretended. Asami was working extra hours in order to make certain she could take off the two weeks to celebrate their upcoming anniversary, so she’d fallen asleep in spite of herself.

Something whistled and squeaked near her foot. She looked down to see a turtle-duckling – no, a turtle-duckling _spirit_ – swimming around her ankles as if it were in a shallow pond.

“Hello, little one,” she murmured. She reached down with one finger and it allowed her to scratch its soft, feathered head. “What are you doing here?”

It rubbed its head against her leg. Then it whistled again, making itself taller as it repeated the sound several times while flapping its wings – then disappeared in a flash of light.

Korra blinked as her eyes readjusted to the night. “Ooo-kaay.”

***

Asami closed her desk drawer and turned the key in the lock. She sighed in satisfaction as she dropped the key into her purse. She was done. On schedule. Everything was delegated as appropriate. She was free for two weeks of Iroh’s guest room.

They’d considered booking a hotel on Ember Island, or even just staying home. But, in the end, they couldn’t resist the urge to try to return to that oasis. There was no lunar eclipse this year. No guidance from helpful little light gourds. Even Raava didn’t have answers. It was just them. And hope.

Asami walked quickly through the building to the parking garage, determined to make it into her car and on her way home without someone stopping to discuss last minute business with her. When she closed the door to her car, she heard the whistling squeak of a turtle-duckling. Confused, Asami looked down at the floor to see a turtle-duckling spirit swimming around her ankles.

“Well, hello.” Asami held out her hand, palm toward the duckling. It nosed against her palm as if looking for food. She giggled. “I wish I had something to offer you.”

It fixed a beady black eye on her with such intensity it made her hold her breath. Then, in a flash of light, it was gone.

***

The room was the same. The bathroom and its mirror were the same. Everything was exactly as they remembered from their honeymoon. It was a relief, that despite the turmoil of the prior year some things had remained the same.

They laughed. They slept. They made love. They rediscovered their best friend.

They remained in that room for what felt like three entire days before Korra woke up with a gleam in her eye and a smirk on her lips. Packs strapped to backs, they took two steps from Iroh’s picnic table and found themselves horrendously lost.

“Okay,” Korra sighed, staring up at the tangled jungle above them. “Maybe I wasn’t ready for this trip.”

She looked up when Asami squeezed her hand. Her wife smiled at her with that you’ll-figure-it-out expression. “It’s dry and cool.”

Blinking, Korra realized they were in the jungle that Little Cutie and the light spirits had led them to during their honeymoon. Whooping, she picked Asami up and spun them in a circle. Her heart thrilled to hear her wife’s laughter, the smell of jasmine and metal and motor oil thick in her nose.

Her confidence restored, Korra led them through the vegetation. They stopped to pick a couple of their favorite fruits, reminiscing about the conversations they’d had with the light spirits.

“I wish love was all it took to make babies,” Korra sighed. “This last year has been awful.”

“It has.” Asami lifted their hands and kissed Korra’s knuckles. “But, when we do become parents, we’ll appreciate our children that much more.”

“That’s true. I appreciate my bending so much more since I’ve lost it. _Twice_.”

“And I appreciate my inheritance so much more since I’ve lost it. And my father. Twice.”

It was Korra’s turn to kiss Asami’s knuckles. As she did, they stepped out of the jungle and onto the banks of the quiet river and its whispering waterfall. They stood, shoulder-to-shoulder, staring up at the full moon over the tumbling water, the cool breeze caressing their skin.

“You know what I’m thinking?” Korra asked, waggling her eyebrows.

Asami narrowed her eyes. “Don’t you-” Her emerald eyes opened wide as she stared behind Korra. “Turtle-duck.”

“What?” Korra turned around to see a very large turtle-duck. Its feathers shone like jewels and precious metals as it swam through the waterfall, easily parting the gallons of rushing water like a gossamer curtain. “Giant turtle-duck,” she whispered.

“Is it friendly?” Asami whispered in return.

“The energy isn’t dark, but….” Korra shrugged. The two women exchanged looks and then approached the edge of the flowing water, stopping a few feet from the bank.

When the spirit stopped in front of them, they found themselves at eye-level with the glittering spirit. It bowed its head slightly at them, and the pair bowed in return.

“Welcome to my oasis, Avatar and mate.”

The two women exchanged glances.

“Um, thank you….” Korra trailed off.

“I am the caretaker of the Oasis of Existence.” It turned its eye to Asami. “What do you have to offer me?”

Korra looked at her wife. Confusion, then recognition flashed across Asami’s face. She shot Korra an apologetic look before bowing to the spirit.

“My apologies, great spirit,” Asami said, standing up. She pulled off her backpack. “I was not prepared to bring an offering. All I have is some hardtack and tiger-seal jerky.”

The turtle-duck spirit shook its feathers and the sound of thousands of wind chimes filled the air. “I prefer water-weeds. There are plenty here.”

“Yes.” Asami blushed as she rezipped her pack and put her arms back through the straps. “Of course.”

“What offering?” Korra asked the giant feathered-spirit. “What is this about?”

“You cannot enter the oasis without receiving my mark,” the spirit said. “You cannot receive my mark without an offering.”

“What kind of offering?”

“You have already made your offering, Avatar. Your mate has not.”

Korra raised an eyebrow. “Her father died to save our worlds. Is that not sacrifice enough?”

“That was her father’s sacrifice, not hers.”

“Look-” Korra paused when Asami placed a hand on her shoulder. A determined and sad expression was on her face.

“Last year, I told Korra I didn’t want to bear children, because I didn’t want to be a burden to her. Which is true. When she told me she couldn’t bear children, I attempted to offer to carry a child despite my misgivings – which Korra, being Korra, refused.

“We both want a family. I promised I would help Korra become a mother. But, when all of our other options fell through and she still refused my offer to bear our children, I … I figured I could wait until she changed her mind. Because, there’s another, more practical reason for me to raise children.”

She looked at Korra. “One day, I will die. I need an heir. I need someone to take over Future Industries and build upon mine and my father’s legacy. If not, when I die … someone else’s vision will determine the future. And the Sato name could be lost to history.

“We can’t control the future. And we shouldn’t attempt to dictate what the next generation will do with the world they inherit from us. So … I offer my acceptance that, despite everything my father and I have sacrificed, the Sato line will end with me.”

Korra reached up and cupped Asami’s tear-streaked cheek. “I’m so sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for, Korra.” Asami put her hand over Korra’s, kissing the veined wrist.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

In a blink of an eye, the two women found themselves in the large, polished obsidian chamber veined with silver. The shallow hot spring where Korra had been healed and they’d dared to dream of loving promises proven true steamed before them.

The voice of the turtle-duck spirit echoed through the chamber: “If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it is yours. If it doesn’t, it never was.

“It is yours.”


	10. A Future Built/Love is Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Let me not to the marriage of true minds  
> Admit impediments. Love is not love  
> Which alters when it alteration finds,  
> Or bends with the remover to remove:  
> O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,  
> That looks on tempests and is never shaken;  
> It is the star to every wandering bark,  
> Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.  
> Love's not Time's fool[....]  
> But bears it out even to the edge of doom."  
> -William Shakespeare, Sonnet 116

“So … what do we do now?”

Korra sighed as she stood next to her wife, staring at the silently flowing healing spring. The energy of the water felt the same, but the energy of the spirit she’d felt during their honeymoon was missing. She knew now it wasn’t the caretaker, so she assumed it was The Source. Unfortunately, neither the caretaker nor The Source was there to ask how to fix her eggs.

“Not a clue,” Korra said. “I can’t sense any spirits. Not that they’d give us a straight answer.”

“You know,” Asami began, folding her arms, “the Spirit World could use a manual.”

“At least there’s a full moon?” Korra shrugged.

“Not in the physical world,” Asami said, shaking her head.

“Of course.” Korra rolled her eyes and dropped to one knee. “I guess we just do what we did last time?”

“Get naked, makeout, and fall in by accident?”

Korra grinned up at Asami. “I’m game if you are.”

Asami rolled her eyes, her red lips pulled into a smirk. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“I’m not cute.” Korra pouted. A sudden surge of power alerted her to the presence of The Source. Her eyes glowed as Raava acknowledged her alarm. The Avatar quickly stood up, ready to fight if necessary. “It’s here.”

“The Source?”

“I think so.” Korra nodded. She turned toward the waterfall, eyes shifting between the water and the stone abutting it. “It’s the same energy I felt the last time we were here.”

“I still can’t imagine something more powerful than you,” Asami said. She checked her ponytail then tossed it back over her shoulder.

“I’m not that-”

_“Watch your step, Asami. The rock is slippery here.”_

_“Okay.”_

Both women stared at each other, mouths agape. The voices were theirs, but they came echoing up the path into the cave. Korra shook her head, eyebrows furrowed. “Wh-”

_“I don’t think this is a natural formation.”_

_“Can’t really compare it to the physical world.”_

_“True.”_

Korra turned her head toward the path. The energy she felt was coming closer, from the same direction as their voices. She tipped to one side as Asami yanked her arm and covered her mouth with one hand.

“We _need_ to _hide_!” Asami hissed, emerald eyes narrowed in her ask-questions-later face.

Korra nodded and Asami released her. She shot her wife an annoyed glare as she rolled her shoulders. Asami pointed up, and she looked up to see a large opening. Wrapping one arm around the nonbender’s waist, she used airbending to lift them the couple of stories.

Setting Asami down first, Korra waited for her to clear the entry before drifting into the cave. The wind stirred a few glittering feathers. In the back of the cave, a large nest took up most of the space. It wasn’t as large as the turtle-duck spirit, but Korra figured it could change its size if it wanted. Or, this was an old nest it had outgrown.

She turned to locate her wife. She found Asami prone on the cave floor, peering over the edge. Korra dropped to her knees and crawled to Asami’s feet, then dropped to her stomach and wriggled forward on her elbows and toes. She smiled to herself as she remembered her father teaching her to sneak up on a polar leopard.

_“The water actually comes in from a fissure at the bottom of that shallow pool.”_

_“Who carved all of this?”_

Korra peeked over the edge, heart racing. Down below, beside the healing spring, were _another_ Korra and Asami.

_“Some spirits build oases around the Spirit World, a place where other spirits can gather and rejuvenate without fear of danger. It’s one of the few memories I have of Avatar Wan. Usually, it’s guarded by a caretaker spirit.”_

Korra narrowed her eyes and carefully placed a hand on the stone. Just as she was about to reach into the energy, she felt the other Korra reaching out to her. In an instant, Raava took over, shielding both her and Asami from the other Korra. She watched with wide eyes as the other Korra shook her head at the other Asami.

She turned her head to her wife. Her Asami was studying the pair below, green eyes shifting between them. Korra frowned. That energy, that moment, was the answer to a year-old question. She nudged the taller woman and mouthed: “It’s us.”

Asami nodded and mouthed: “I know.” She signaled to keep watching.

Peeking back over the rim, Korra watched their past selves as they replayed last year’s events in this very cave.

_“Like a hotel, for spirits.”_

_“Something like that.”_

_“The temperature’s perfect.”_

_“Well, then. What are we waiting for?”_

Korra winced and groaned softly. Asami shook next to her with a suppressed giggle.

_“What are you doing?”_

_“I’m obviously trying to seduce you.”_

She looked over when Asami nudged her and mouthed: “Obviously.” Korra pouted.

_“Here? Isn’t that … inappropriate?”_

_“I can’t explain it, but I get the feeling that this place is meant to … celebrate … love. And life.”_

Korra nudged Asami and winked. Asami smiled and sidled closer.

_“Oh, really?”_

_“Yes, really.”_

Keeping one eye on the action, Korra leaned over and put her mouth close to Asami’s ear. She noticed the slender woman shiver. “Should we be watching … us?”

_“In that case….”_

Asami turned her head and placed her lips near Korra’s ear. “I’m game if you are.”

Korra pulled back to see her wife’s expression. Asami’s cheeks were pink with a blush, but she winked and turned her attention back to the scene below them.

_“Who’s seducing who, now?”_

Korra smiled to herself as she took another glance at the woman nestled against her. All Asami had to do was smile and she was putty in the engineer’s hands.

The rest of the words of the women below were lost, but Korra remembered every whisper and breath as they stripped. She was surprised by how quickly they started kissing after the last article of clothing was removed. That moment had seemed so much longer to her.

Asami wriggled next to her, and she turned her attention to her wife. Slender fingers intertwined with hers. She leaned over and kissed Asami on a flushed cheek. Asami wrinkled her nose and whispered, “Does my face really look like that?”

Korra silently giggled. “Only when you’re _really_ into it,” she whispered.

Asami rolled her eyes. “I look like an imbecile. In pain.”

Korra squeezed her fingers and smiled. “You’re beautiful.”

“ _You’re_ beautiful.”

A splash drew their attention back to the pool below their hiding place. Korra watched herself enter the Avatar state, felt the wave of power released as she tapped into the eternal energy that lived within her mortal body. She couldn’t help the tears that formed as she remembered the joy she’d felt when she’d been healed.

The difference a year can make.

Korra released Asami’s hand and sidled back from the opening of the cave. Away from view, she sat with her backpack against the wall and leaned her head against the warm stone. She stared at the silver roots branching through the obsidian, tears tracking down the sides of her face.

The caretaker of the Oasis of Existence had sent them back in _time_. Back to the lunar eclipse that opened The Source. She wasn’t sure how the water would change them this time, but they’d hoped they could find a way to access the incredibly powerful energy that flowed out of it.

_Power_. Korra lowered her chin and took a deep breath. She knew now that the presence she’d felt last year wasn’t The Source. It was _her_. Her then-future self, hiding out of sight. She frowned as she imagined what her past-self would’ve done if she’d seen Korra and Asami clones standing at the water’s edge.

It wouldn’t have been good.

She turned her head as Asami took a seat next to her. Shoulder-to-shoulder, warm emeralds watched her under perfectly arched eyebrows. Korra smiled. “Quick thinking, genius,” she whispered.

Asami shrugged and smiled. A gentle hand brushed Korra’s freshly cut bangs off of her forehead. “They’re going to take a while,” Asami whispered.

Korra shook with a silent chuckle. “ _We_ sure did.”

Asami blushed, but held Korra’s gaze. “I’d kiss you, but the objective is to _not_ get caught.”

“I’m in the mood for a little naughty.”

“Remember Zaofu?”

Korra grimaced. In retrospect, it had been a bad idea to sneak a quickie in a city full of seismic-sensing earthbenders. “Right. Got it.”

Her wife kissed her cheek, then leaned a glorious head of ebony locks on her shoulder. They waited in silent contemplation, listening to the occasional moans and shouts that reached the roof of the chamber as their past selves celebrated in the warm waters. They traced patterns in each other’s palms and wrists. The intensity of the innocent strokes reminded Korra of the days before she’d proposed.

Eventually, what had to have been hours later, Korra felt her presence drifting away. Kissing Asami’s hair, she unwound their hands then crawled and sidled back to the edge of the cave. The chamber was empty. She connected with Raava, and they watched the spirit of her past-self approach the waterfall, bend the barrier, then disappear.

Releasing the Avatar state, Korra turned her head and met Asami’s questioning gaze over her shoulder. “They’re gone. Or, we’re gone?”

Asami smiled and stood. “About time.”

Korra grinned. She stood and held out her hand. Asami stepped into her half-embrace, and she hopped out of the cave, again using airbending to assist their landing. As soon as she released the element, ruby lips engulfed hers. Long fingers tugged tufts of chin-length hair. She moaned as her hands instinctively found her wife’s hips.

It took little effort for them to shrug out of their packs. Little more effort to unbutton and untie and unwrap each other. Once they were naked, Korra lifted Asami in the air and spun them in a circle. Asami laughed, hair flowing, emerald eyes fixed on her.

With a whoop, Korra plunged them both in the water. She grinned at Asami’s squeal, even though the water was perfectly warm. Coming up for air, she cupped flushed cheeks in both hands, staring between the gold flecked gems she’d come to know better than her own.

“I love you, Mrs. Sato.”

A bright, wide grin. Lipstick non-existent. Strings of black framing a lovely, loving face. “I love you, too. Mrs. Sato.”

The water began glowing a soft golden white around them.

“What’s happening?” Asami asked.

Korra shrugged. “I guess we’re about to find out.”

She guided Asami to one of the walls and its accommodating bench and they resumed their mutual exploration, both fighting for dominance until Asami bit Korra’s neck in _just_ the right spot at the same time as long, dexterous fingers slipped between dusky lips and grazed Korra’s clit.

Korra threw her head back in a deep moan, blue eyes rolling in the back of her head. She wrapped her thighs around Asami’s waist, her fingers pressing red marks into porcelain skin. Asami quickly took advantage of Korra’s submission, positioning herself for better access as she rubbed gentle circles around Korra’s nub and nibbled and licked the sensitive spot where she’d just left the beginnings of a passion mark on Korra’s neck.

The Southerner kept her neck turned, offering Asami full access as she ground her hips into Asami’s touch, gasping and moaning into her wife’s ear. Korra felt the heat building, felt the familiar ache between her legs. She moved her hand to Asami’s upper arm, squeezing the toned tricep.

Understanding the unspoken direction, Asami’s hand shifted between her legs. Korra gasped and moaned as one, then two fingers were carefully pressed inside of her. Asami curled them and flexed a strong wrist in slow, steady rhythm.

“Yes!” Korra breathed. “Yes! Oh! Asa-! Asami!” Korra rolled her hips in rhythm with Asami’s thrusts. Each curl of Asami’s fingers stroked a spot within her that sent waves of pleasure through her core. Her breasts rubbed against Asami’s skin as the glowing spirit water flowed around and between them.

“Fuck, you’re so good at this,” Korra moaned.

Asami chuckled in her ear, tone low and sultry. “Practice makes perfect.”

Flushed skin and strands of wet, black hair filled Korra’s vision. She turned her head until her mouth crashed against Asami’s lips, tongues tasting and twisting as Asami began to pick up speed. Korra gasped, breaking their kiss. “‘Sami!”

A pair of soft lips caressed Korra’s jaw. “Look at me, Korra.”

Sapphires met emeralds. Korra kept her eyes open with effort, eyelashes fluttering with every other stroke. A soft white lit Asami’s flushed face from below them. She could feel the energy of the spirit water within her chi, ebbing and flowing as it connected her and Asami. Korra felt the energy build, felt the warm glow respond beneath her skin.

A very familiar warm glow.

“Asami! I-“ Korra groaned as her inner walls fluttered against Asami’s thrusting fingers. “Maybe… Maybe we should….”

“What’s that?” Asami adjusted the angle of her wrist.

“I-“ Korra groaned. “I think I might…. Ohhh, fuck!”

“Might what?” Asami asked, voice husky and solid despite being breathless with desire and exertion.

“Avatar state,” Korra gasped. She leaned her forehead against Asami’s, eyes drifting closed with the effort of keeping herself out of the Avatar state while still clinging to Asami.

“It’s okay, Korra,” Asami murmured. “Let go.”

“Asa-mi!” Korra shook her head.

“Korra, I promise. It’s okay.” Asami kissed Korra briefly. “I love you. I trust you. Let go.”

Korra wrapped her legs tighter against Asami, unintentionally shortening the strokes of the engineer’s hand. Asami quickly made up for it, pushing in a third finger and increasing the speed of her curling thrusts.

“I love you. I love all of you. I’m yours, Korra. Always. Body and spirit.”

“I-I! Ah-! Asa-!” Korra could no longer breathe, every muscle rigid in anticipation, her climax at the precipice. Two skilled thrusts later and Korra screamed to the ceiling, crying out in ecstasy with each stroke as Asami maintained her speed.

Korra saw the light engulf them, felt it fill her – fill them. As it entered Asami, it split into a jeweled rainbow even more breathtaking than the equinox she’d proposed. She leaned down and kissed Asami, closing her eyes as the light bounced between them, reflecting each other’s love into infinity.

The light settled within her as Korra opened her eyes. She rested her forehead against Asami’s, throat scratchy from screaming. For a brief second her glowing, white eyes reflected in Asami’s. Her wife pulled out of her and slowly stroked the outside of her thigh in the warm, clear water.

Eventually, Korra’s lowered her head to Asami’s shoulder, her nose pressed into a damp, warm, cozy neck. “I love you, too,” Korra finally said, voice raw and husky. “Body and spirit. Always.”

Korra felt the silver roots in the walls pulse when she said those words.

Asami hummed with pleasure as she held Korra in her arms, tenderly caressing her. “Are you okay?”

Korra nodded. “Yeah … that was just … intense. Are you okay?”

In reply, Asami pressed swollen lips against Korra’s. The two kissed slowly at first, deeply, until the kisses became as fervent as when they’d first undressed. Korra maneuvered Asami until the CEO’s back was against the wall of the pool, her black hair swirling like drops of ink around her pale shoulders.

Korra began to kiss along Asami’s jaw and down her neck as she slid one knee just at the apex of Asami’s long legs. Asami moaned and rolled her hips against Korra’s knee, as Korra nibbled and tugged on Asami’s neck while she tugged and rolled Asami’s nipples between her thumbs and forefingers.

“Oh, Korra,” Asami whispered. She wrapped her legs around Korra, digging fingertips into Korra’s back as she pulled them closer together.

Sliding one hand down Asami’s side, Korra pressed her teeth into the nonbender’s pulse point as she traced light, random patterns with fire-heated fingertips. Asami gasped and writhed under Korra’s attention, grinding harder against Korra’s muscular thigh.

“You are the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen,” Korra breathed into alabaster skin, licking the spot where she’d just bit her lover. She moved her hot hand lower, crossing Asami’s hip and causing the CEO to buck against her knee.

“Oh!” Asami gasped, hooking her long legs around the Avatar’s.

Abandoning the other nipple, Korra trailed a second hand down Asami’s flat, toned stomach and then around her hip. Her hand caressed what it could of Asami’s seated rear and along a pale thigh. Grasping the back of the Asami’s thigh, Korra lifted it higher and pulled the engineer to the edge of the bench.

Releasing her firebending, Korra slid a finger along Asami’s folds, relishing the resulting whimper as the CEO bit her own bottom lip. “Korra…. Please….”

“Tell me what you want,” Korra murmured, tugging on Asami’s earlobe with her teeth. She slipped her finger in between and began massage light circles on Asami’s clit. She felt Asami jerk underneath her, long fingers digging into the flexing muscles of her back.

“Ah! Oh! Fuck!” Asami panted, squirming against Korra’s hold on her leg. She dug her heel into the back of Korra’s thigh. “Two fingers!”

“As you wish,” Korra murmured. Her lips trailed back to the first passion mark, already fading as they made love in the healing water. She positioned two fingers at the opening of Asami’s core and dipped them in just an inch, teasing.

“Kor- Ahh!” Asami gasped in pleasure as her plea was interrupted by the simultaneous penetration of fingers and teeth into her writhing body.

Turning her wrist until the pads of her fingers directly hit that spongy spot her wife loved, Korra licked the passion mark once again before lifting her head. She watched as Asami quickly unraveled beneath her, hissing as blunt nails scratched into her back. She could feel how close Asami was to the edge.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” Asami chanted, matching Korra’s rhythm with her hips. “Oh, Korra! I’m so close!”

“I know,” Korra growled, picking up the pace of her thrusts. She used her own hips to facilitate the pressure with each plunge, pulling Asami’s hips closer with her free hand. “Cum for me, love. I want to see you.”

“Korra! Fuck! Korra! Kor….aaaaaah!” Asami’s voice trailed off into a silent scream, her muscles spasming around Korra’s fingers as waves of pleasure rocked her body.

Korra watched Asami’s face, eyebrows scrunched together, eyes squeezed shut, cheeks red, lips parted in a silent “o”. Korra continued to thrust, at a slower and gentler pace, as Asami rode out her orgasm.

When Asami’s hands slipped from her shoulders and slid into the warm water of the pool, Korra eased her fingers out and pulled Asami into a hug. She kissed every inch of flushed skin within reach, hands tenderly stroking shivering skin under the water.

“Thank you,” Asami murmured, kissing her shoulder.

“Thank _you_.” Korra gazed into her wife’s loving eyes.

“Do you…?”

“I don’t know.” Korra shrugged. She lifted their hands out of the water, kissed pink and wrinkled knuckles. “Either way, we have each other. And that’s enough.”

***

Just as they had during their honeymoon, they’d enlisted Jinora to find them when their two weeks was up or some emergency required the Avatar’s assistance. When they’d returned to their room at Iroh’s, a newspaper dated 176 AG was just inside the door. They assumed this meant they were back in their present, but Asami still planned to investigate more thoroughly when they returned home.

In the meantime, they enjoyed their vacation. Their very long vacation. So long that Korra refused to spend another moment of it staring at the same four walls.

Waving farewell to Iroh, Asami took her wife’s hand and they explored the Spirit World. They raced across bouncing blue grass, climbed (actual) mountains, and spent the night cuddled in a tree shaped like a giant antler because they’re making out triggered the field of flowers below them to burst into fireworks.

The “morning” after the firework-flower fiasco, Asami emerged from their earthen “tent” to find Korra on her knees, torso bowing as she vomited on the grass. She rushed to her wife’s side, rubbing the sick woman’s back. “Was it the firework pollen? Something you ate?”

Korra shook her head. She bent some water from the nearby stream and used it to rinse her mouth. “I don’t know. I just got dizzy and….” She trailed off, a puzzled expression on her face. “How long have we been here?”

“I’m not sure,” Asami said. “It feels like weeks, but Jinora hasn’t come to get us yet.”

“Weeks.” Korra fixed her with those achingly beautiful blue eyes. “Asami.”

The gears clicked and Asami put a hand over her mouth. “Oh, Korra!”

Her wife pulled her into a rib-cracking embrace. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

They agreed it was best to stay in the Spirit World until Jinora came for them. They didn’t want to alarm anyone or get anyone’s hopes up, and the spirit water helped with Korra’s nausea. At first.

After a week, Korra’s morning sickness became half of a day. Another week and it was the entire day. After three days of watching her wife throw up everything – including spirit water – Asami made an executive decision. With Korra’s head cradled in her lap, she put her hand on the ground and pictured the dragon-bird spirit that had ferried them across the Spirit World.

“What’s wrong?”

Asami opened her eyes to see Little Cutie standing before her, his four stubby “hands” on hers.

“Korra’s sick,” Asami said. She fought back the tears. “I need to get her to Katara. I was hoping the dragon-bird spirit could take us to the Southern Water Tribe.”

“He’s on his way,” Little Cutie said, tiny mouth frowning. “Can I help?”

“Do you know Katara?” The light spirit nodded. “Tell her Korra is sick and we’re on our way to see her.”

“Okay.” The little yellow gourd was already hovering off the ground. He rubbed his cheek against hers and she felt a calming warmth settle around her heart. He waved and disappeared into the sunlight.

A welcome cry pierced the sky as the dragon-bird spirit curled down toward them. It laid flat on the ground with a worried rumble.

“Korra? Korra, dear heart.”

“Mmm?” Korra slowly opened her eyes. She saw the dragon-bird spirit and her lips twitched into a smile.

Asami helped Korra onto the golden-hued spirit. Korra’s face was shadowed and lined with the effort to stay upright and alert as they sped across the shifting contours of the Spirit World faster than they’d ever traveled. The two columns of light seemed to take hours to reach.

They eventually landed in front of Katara’s without incident. Korra mumbled a few words of gratitude to the dragon-bird spirit as Asami slid off its back to the snowy ground. Korra slid down after her, and Asami steadied her as she wavered on her feet.

Katara opened the door, Kya and Little Cutie peeking behind her.

“What are you doing here?” Korra asked Kya.

“Visiting my mother.” Kya raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing here?”

Korra grimaced, then dry-heaved. Asami had to fight to keep their balance as she held up solid muscle.

“Right,” Kya sighed.

***

Korra sat at the end of Katara’s kitchen table, eating seaweed noodles in an arctic hen broth. A mug of medicinal tea steamed beside her bowl, and she sipped from it between bites. The nausea was still there, but it had greatly subsided with Katara’s remedies. She swallowed and stuck her free hand outside of her camel-yak wool blanket.

“I’m sorry for making you worry,” Korra said, searching for Asami’s hand underneath the large fur pelt wrapped around the engineer.

Asami clasped her hand firmly. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

The journey to Katara’s on the firebending dragon had been mercifully short. And warm. Still, neither of them were dressed for the South Pole’s climate, and she was in no shape to bend air or fire to keep _herself_ warm, much less someone else. Even if that someone else was the woman she loved.

“I’m much better. This tea is really helping,” Korra said, taking another sip.

“It smells awful,” Asami said, wrinkling her nose.

“It tastes even worse,” Korra admitted with a chuckle. “But I don’t feel like puking all over the table so….” She shrugged and took another sip. She sighed contentedly as Asami rubbed her knuckles underneath the fur. She was warm, and safe, and loved.

Korra and Asami both looked up as they heard someone thumping a fist on Katara’s front door. Muffled voices filtered into the kitchen along with a draft that made Asami shiver. The rumbling baritone of Korra’s father was unmistakable, even if his words were still unclear.

The couple exchanged nervous glances.

“Here we go,” Asami whispered with a smile.

Korra squeezed her fingers in reply.

“Korra! Asami!” Tonraq rushed through the kitchen doorway, her mother following close behind. “Are you okay?”

“Hey, Dad! Mom!” Korra greeted them, remaining seated at the table as they hugged her and Asami. “We’re fine.”

“We were so worried!” Senna said, kissing each woman on the forehead before taking the seat next to Korra, across from Asami. Tonraq sat next to Senna.

Tonraq wrinkled his nose as he sniffed the air. “What is that … smell?”

“Korra?” Senna leaned toward her. “What are you drinking?”

Korra put down her cup and took a deep breath. “Mom? Dad? We have something to tell you.” She smiled sideways at Asami, pale cheeks already pink. Turning to her parents, she said, “I’m pregnant.”

Korra watched her parents’ reaction. At first they were stunned, then Senna covered her mouth as tears formed. Tonraq’s lips trembled as he tried to smile without crying. He stood up and walked between the two women, hugging them both by the shoulder as he kissed their hair.

“I’m so happy for you,” he rumbled.

“There’s more,” Korra chuckled through happy tears. She tilted her head toward Asami. “You wanna tell ’em?”

Asami nodded, everything above her collar flushed red. “We believe, due to the nature of the conception, that I’m the progenitor.”

“The what?” Tonraq’s eyebrows furrowed together. He glanced at Senna and she shrugged in response.

“She’s my babies’ daddy,” Korra said.

“Korra!” Asami covered her face with one hand.

Her father threw his head back and laughed, the booming sound filling the kitchen. Senna rushed over and pulled Asami out of her chair, crying as she hugged the taller woman, kissed flushed cheeks, and repeated the cycle.

“Asami.” Tonraq hugged her after his wife finally let her go and started smothering Korra with kisses. “I have to admit, I’d given up hope I’d ever be a grandfather. I should’ve known you’d figure out a way.”

“I can’t take the credit,” Asami said, looking down at Korra.

“I winged it, mostly,” Korra admitted. She took another sip of her tea. “We weren’t absolutely sure I was pregnant until Katara examined me.”

All eyes turned toward the elderly healer. Katara had taken a seat at the head of the other end of the table, silently observing. Kya leaned against the doorway of the kitchen, openly curious.

“Korra’s fine,” Katara said, smiling. “She pushed herself a little too hard and didn’t have access to familiar anti-nausea herbs. A little rest, fluids, and a few nutritious meals and she and the babies will be fine.

“Babies?” Tonraq looked down at Korra. “You said – you meant?”

“Two strong babies,” Katara said. “I’d say about eight weeks.”

“But how?” Senna raised her eyebrows. “It’s only been _two_ weeks.”

“Less than,” Tonraq said.

“Two weeks in the physical world,” Katara explained. “Time works differently in the Spirit World.”

Korra and Asami exchanged knowing glances. “It most certainly does.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand ... that's a wrap!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the journey. I'm thrilled that I could participate in the Korrasami Month challenge. It most certainly was a challenge to keep up with the deadlines! I had to change my original concept of the story to fit the available prompts, but I think I managed to give my favorite leading ladies some well-deserved happiness after putting them through the angst wringer.
> 
> Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of the comments and kudos and interest in this story. I hope this final chapter gave you all of the feel goods without feeling like "A WIZARD DID IT!" (If you've never watched Hello Future Me on YouTube, check him out.)
> 
> Again, thank you for reading. Until next time.


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